Unwanted Destiny
by complete-randomalities
Summary: Rebekah 'Bex' Moore lost her sister in the most unimaginable way possible. After witnessing this with her own eyes, she wanted answers - she needed them. This need sends her into the Hunting life with the Winchesters as her guides, and into a destiny she sure as hell never would have wanted but was nonetheless meant to have. (Eventual/Complicated Dean/OC) ON HIATUS
1. Then tell me

Rebekah Moore, younger sister to Jessica Moore and student at Stanford University, was rushing up the stairs of the apartment building with a costume bag in her hands for her sister. Well, technically she was rushing up the fire escape outside the building.

After throwing open the window, she stuck her head in and called out, "I made it!"

Jess laughed as she took the bag from her sister as she climbed into the apartment. "We have actual stairs that lead to a door you can _walk_ through, you know?"

"Yeah," she chuckled back. "But where's the fun in that?"

Jess rolled her eyes with a chuckle of her own. "I'm going to get ready, you should do the same."

Rebekah pulled a plastic 'wooden' stake from the inside of her brown leather jacket. "Uh, I am ready. I'm a vampire slayer."

"Oh my god," Jess laughed and went to put on her sexy nurse costume that her sister finally arrived with. "You're just as bad as Sam," she called out from the bedroom as she changed.

"I have a spare stake," Rebekah shouted back as she plopped herself down on the sofa. "We can go as a pair of slayers."

Sam walked into the apartment at that moment and asked, "Who's going as what now?" Rebekah answered that by chucking a plastic stake at his head. He caught it with a confused, "Thanks?"

"It's for your costume, dummy," she laughed and wiggled her own in her hand. "Or lack thereof."

"I'm not dressing up, Bex," he replied, setting the plastic stake down on the coffee table in front of Rebekah, who was called Bex more often than not.

"Neither am I, but with the stake I'm a vampire slayer," she deliberately talked in a slow manner so he wouldn't miss a word. "Loophole!"

Sam narrowed his eyes at her and was just about to say something back when Jess joined them in costume while adjusting her earrings. "Play nice you two or I'll send you to separate corners again."

Rebekah grinned at her sister in an impish manner. "Are you going to spank Sam while you're at it? He seems like the kind of guy that'd like that."

Jess and Sam both reacted to this by grabbing the throw pillows off the sofa and whacking her with them.

Rebekah was laughing so hard because of this that she couldn't even defend herself.

* * *

Rebekah joined Jess and Sam to the Halloween party at the local bar, even though she wasn't a big fan of the holiday herself. "Are you sure Jess is the one you're dating," their friend Mike joked before taking a swig of beer. "You and Bex seem to be more alike."

"Oh shut up," Bex shot back, hitting the bottom of his bottle so he'd spill it – which he did. "Just because Sam and I both don't like Halloween, doesn't mean we're a match made in heaven." She looked over at Sam and shuddered. "Ugh, he's like my brother."

"If Sam ever proposes to your sister, then he will be," Mike continued to tease.

Jess was going to nip that conversation right in the bud, so she lifted her shot glass to say, "I _propose_ a toast to Sam and his latest LSAT victory."

Sam, grateful for the segue, focused on this topic of conversation. "It's not that big a deal."

As Jess and the others clinked glasses with him, she said, "He acts so humble but scored a 174."

"And yet Elle Woods scored a 179," Bex teased with a grin.

"Well, yeah, that's because it's Elle Woods," Sam replied in a jokingly serious tone then added a bit dramatically, "I can't even compare."

Their little group got a big laugh at that, Bex even almost had a spit-take moment because of it.

"Well," Mike said as he sat next to Bex, "Elle Woods or not, you're still first draft pick. You can get into any Law School you want."

Sam smiled. "Actually, I got an interview here Monday. If it goes okay, I think I got a shot at a full ride next year."

Jess smiled her reassuring smile his way. "Hey, it's gonna go great."

Sam chuckled lightheartedly. "It better."

"Sam, one ten to another, how does it feel to be the golden boy in your family?" Bex asked, and grinned at Jess' look from it.

"Excuse me, I'm an eleven," he joked back, "And they don't know."

" _Whaaaaat_?" Mike asked in a drawn out hight pitched voice. "I would be gloating! Why not?"

"Because we're not exactly the Bradys," Sam replied, throwing one of the bar nuts at him.

"I'm not exactly the Huxtables." Mike threw some nuts back. "More shots?"

"Yes, please," Bex answered more animatedly than intended, where Jess and Sam both declined the offer of more shots.

"You just barely turned twenty-one, Bex," Jess pointed out. "Might want to slow it down a bit."

"Oh please," she replied with a 'pfft' tone. "I've had tastes of alcohol _long_ before my 21st birthday." When she realized she had admitted that, she smiled innocently. "You weren't supposed to know that."

"Too late," Jess answered, narrowing her eyes at her sister before laughing.

Jess, turning her attention back to her boyfriend, smiled. "Sam, I am seriously proud of you and you are going to knock them dead on Monday. You're going to get that full ride, I know it."

Sam smiled lovingly at her. "What would I do without you?"

Jess looked as if she was pondering this for a moment before saying, "Hmm…crash and burn." She then smiled and pulled Sam in for a kiss.

Bex made a gagging sound. "Uckth, get a room."

After breaking off their kiss, Sam and Jess both threw some nuts at her.

"Sibling abuse," she shouted with laughed. "I'm being assaulted by nuts!" Bex paused after hearing herself say that. "Okay, that sound _way_ better in my head."

Jess shook her head and laughed at her sister once again before asking, "Has your roommate let you back into your dorm yet or do you need to crash at our place again?"

Before Bex could answer, Sam asked, "What exactly did you do to your roommate again?"

Jess answered for her. "Her roommate wouldn't stop snoring so she made her think the room was haunted so she'd be too scared to sleep."

Sam's mouth gaped open a bit at that. "Seriously?"

Bex nodded. "It took her a week before she realized that I was behind it. And then she locked me out. Luckily for me she's too embarrassed about the situation to actually report me. So, yes, she's still pissed so the couch would be a godsend."

"I wouldn't know about that," Sam replied with a knowing look. "It's pretty lumpy."

"Speaking from experience?" Bex asked with laughter.

"Only when he's being naughty," Jess joked.

Without missing a beat, Sam added in, "And here I thought you liked that."

Bex shuddered at the images that instantly went into her mind. "Oh my god, I need bleach for my brain now."

"How about some tequila?" Mike asked as he set the shot glasses down, only hearing that last bit of their conversation.

"Yes, please." Bex lifted the glass with a, "Through the teeth and over the gums, look out stomach, here it comes." After a 'cheers' of unison they all downed their shots and continued to enjoy the party and the company.

* * *

Sam was right, the couch was pretty lumpy, but Bex already knew that. It wasn't the first time she'd slept on the thing after all. If only she had made it to the couch. Since she'd far more to drink than she should have, she ended up spending most of the night in the bathroom. Jess was no help because she wanted to teach Bex a lesson and at that moment Bex felt like the lesson was learned.

Thankfully her long, blonde hair had been tied up in a bun on the top of her head so there was no risk of getting puke in her hair. All she had to worry about was her mouth. Just to mess with Sam, she used his toothbrush to brush her teeth. Bex had just finished this, pretty amazed that she stayed conscious long enough to do it, when she thought she heard something.

Bex half wondered if she had imagined it but since she had to go out to the living room to get to the couch anyway, she might as well take a look. She didn't look very formidable in her TMNT shorts and tank top pajama set with her fuzzy socks, but her 5' 6" self had been taking self-defense classes for awhile now and could most definitely hold her own.

She was about to turn into the living room when she felt a hand touch her shoulder from behind. Going straight into fight mode, she whipped around and punched whoever it was. At least she tried to. Sam, the owner of the hand, dodged it before she could make impact.

"Fight instead of flight, I'll remember that," he whispered then said, "Stay here."

Bex scoffed incredulously because he told her to stay put and for a moment or two, she did, but after hearing another crash, she went into the living room to find Sam hand-to-hand fighting some other guy. She was about to do… _something_ when Not-Sam pinned Sam to the floor and said, "Whoa, easy there, tiger."

And Sam replied with, "Dean?"

Now Bex really had no idea what to do because they clearly knew each other and yet they were fighting. Finally, she said, "Do you guys want some Jello or chocolate pudding or something?"

Dean looked over at her with a grin when she said that, giving Sam an opening to get the upper hand and pinning Dean to the floor before getting up. "Please go to bed," Sam said to her, not wanting her near whatever this was about to turn into with his brother.

Bex shrugged, "Okay," she walked forward, squeezed her way through the brothers with a drawn out, " _Excuuuuse_ me," and lounged herself on the couch with a smug grin.

Sam realized the error in his words as soon as she did that and since it was clear she wasn't going anywhere, he just came right out and asked Dean – who was clearly checking Bex out – "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was looking for a beer," Dean answered, not taking his eyes off Bex, still grinning.

Jess joined them at that moment and turned on the living room light. "Sam? What's going on out here?"

Bex got off the couch and went over to her sister, "I think they're related. They were wrestling, and not in the horizontal hula way."

Jess glared at her and Dean chuckled. Sam took a breath before making introductions. "Dean, this is my girlfriend Jessica and her sister Rebekah."

"Wait, your brother Dean?" Jess asked him and Bex chimed in with, "I knew they had to be related!"

Dean getting the introductions mixed up, went over to Bex saying, "I love the Ninja Turtles," with a flirty grin. "And I have got to say, that you are way out of my brother's league."

"Just as I am out of yours," Bex smirked back. "FYI, I'm Rebekah, that's Jessica." She gestured to herself and her sister in turn.

Dean looked mighty pleased to hear that. "Good to know. For another time, of course. Right now I need to borrow your sister's boyfriend here and discuss some private family matters." He went over to his brother as he said this. "But it was really nice meeting, _you_."

"No," Sam interjected and went to go stand with Jess. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of them."

"Okay," Dean replied. "Um, Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam wasn't too phased by this. "So he's working overtime on a 'Miller Time' shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dean looked down for a moment and changed his wording. "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a few days."

Bex looked between Dean and Sam when he said that and saw the change of expression on Sam's face. Now _that_ resonated with him.

Sam was silent for a moment before saying, "Jess, Bex, excuse us."

* * *

"What do you think that was all about?" Bex asked as she handed Jess a cup of coffee since the odds of them getting any sleep now was nil.

"I don't know anything about his family, so I have no idea," Jess sighed before taking a drink.

"That seems kinda unfair, don't you think?" Bex asked as she sat at the kitchen table and pulled one of her legs onto the chair with her. "I mean, Sam knows just about everything about us, right? Where our sister stuff is concerned, you know?"

Jess shrugged a bit. "Yeah, but every family _is_ different."

Bex smiled a bit day-dreamily. "Dean is pretty hot."

Jess rolled her eyes at that. "You think any guy with a pulse is hot."

"Did you just call me a slut?" Bex asked with a raised brow.

"No," Jess countered, "if I said that you slept with every guy with a pulse _then_ I'd be calling you a slut. You just haven't crossed that threshold yet."

Bex set her coffee cup down with a scoff. "I _have_ had sex, thank you very much. You're making me sound like a prude."

Jess almost had a spit-take moment. "You get upset when you think I call you a slut and you get upset when you think I call you a prude? Make up your mind, sister."

Bex's only reaction to that was wadding up a paper napkin and pelting it at her big sister.

* * *

It wasn't long after their conversation that Sam came back into the apartment and went straight to packing. Jess and Bex exchanged questioning looks with each other before going to ask him what was up.

"Wait, so you're taking off?" Jess asked from the bedroom's doorway. "Is this about your dad? Is he alright."

Sam acted like it was nothing. "Yeah. You know, just a little family drama."

"Typical family drama doesn't usually consist of mysterious brothers showing up in the middle of the night," Bex pointed out. "Usually a phone call suffices."

Jess sat on the bed as she said, "Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip?"

Sam was at the dresser grabbing some things as he answered. "Ah, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, and he's probably got Jim, Jack, and Jose along with him."

"Awwww," Bex joked as she leaned against the doorway, "my three favorite men."

"Am I going to have to worry about you while I'm gone?" Sam was protective of Bex because she was Jess's little sister and all.

"I'm just joking around, Sam," Bex assured. "And I'm half asleep here so I most likely won't even remember what I've been saying in the morning."

Jess stayed focused on Sam. "What about your interview on Monday?"

"I'll make the interview," he assured with a smile. "This is only for a couple of days."

Bex caught the look on her sister's face telling her to leave so she could talk to Sam, so she did just that. With a "Have a nice trip," she saluted Sam and went back to the couch in the living room to make any sort of attempt to get some sleep.

* * *

Bex herself spent pretty much the entire weekend just hanging out with Jess. They got in some serious sister bonding time and when Sunday night rolled around, they baked cookies – something that hadn't done together since they were kids.

Jess was presently pulling the last cookie sheet from the oven as Bex sat on the counter eating one of the cooled cookies, saying "Sam better realize how lucky he is to have you. I mean, I'm insanely lucky to have gotten stuck with you as a sister but to actually _want_ to be with Sam, who other level."

Jess looked at her oddly. "I think that was a compliment."

"Maybe a backhanded on," Bex teased with a grin and hopped off the counter. "You're out of milk so I'm gonna go pick some up."

"You must really be thirsty if you're the one offering to do the shopping," Jess teased.

"Well, duh." Bex gave her sister a wink before plucking Jess's keys from the counter with a "Love you!" called out over her shoulder. She had no idea why she came out with that in the moment, but felt like she should say it.

Jess smiled and called back, "Love you, too!" before getting back to the cookies.

* * *

Bex wasn't gone long when she got back to the apartment with the milk. "Anybody home?" she called out as she put the milk away.

"Bedroom," Sam replied, from said room.

"I'm not about to walk into anything kinky, am I?" Bex laughed as she walked into the room only to scream like she had never screamed before because Jess's body was pinned to the ceiling and had ignited into flames engulfing the entire room. "Jess!" she screamed out and tried to get onto the bed to get to her but the next thing she knew, Dean was grabbing hold of her and dragging her out of the room. Apparently he had already done the same to Sam, because he wasn't there, but Bex hadn't seen this. All she saw was her sister.

"Jess!" she screamed as Dean forcibly got her out of the apartment. She couldn't accept what she had just seen, she just couldn't.

* * *

Bex couldn't tell you how she had got outside, standing next to a black Impala, if she was asked. All she kept seeing was the image of Jess over and over in her mind.

There were emergency vehicles around at this point and they had gotten the fire out, but Bex wasn't tuned into any of it. She was still in a state of shock. Finally, she turned to Sam and Dean to say with a broken voice, "That wasn't normal. She…she shouldn't have died like that. Why…why did she die like that?"

Dean looked at his brother in a 'don't do it' way but Sam ignored it and answered her with the truth. "It was a demon."

Bex scoffed a disbelieving chuckle. "Is this the part where you tell me all the stories are true?" Even with her grief, she still managed to crack a joke. When she saw the serious looks on their faces she was in just enough shock to believe him. "A demon?" she asked after swallowing a lump in her throat.

Sam and Dean both nodded in reply and Dean added in, "There's a lot you need to know."

Bex wiped away her tears and walked over to the brothers saying with complete seriousness. "Then **tell** me."

Sam looked from Bex to his brother to say, "We got work to do."

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 1


	2. That is so Charmed

_Bex stood with her parents in front of Jess's grave after the funeral. They had hardly uttered a word to one another during this time or the days leading up to this mournful event. It was heartbreaking for Bex for her parents not to speak to her but they were grieving as well. Not only was Jess their daughter…she was their_ _ **favorite**_ _. Bex knew this as well as anyone else who had seen them all together but it never bothered her because she had Jess. Only now…Jess was gone and Bex's world was about to change even more than it already had._

 _Bex reached out to take her mother's hand, but her mother recoiled. Cold eyes turned to face Bex as her mother said, "It should have been you. Why wasn't it you? Why did it have to be our little girl?"_

 _Bex knew her mother was grieving but to say things like this to her…she couldn't understand that. "How can you say that to me? I'm your daughter too!"_

 _Her mother scoffed and walked away to go back to the car service that was waiting to take them home._

 _Tears were streaming down Bex's cheeks as she turned to her father. "Dad?"_

 _His posture straightened as he cleared his throat and went over to Bex. "We never wanted you to find out, Rebekah, but the loss of Jess is too much for us." He pulled out two envelopes and a little box from the inside of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Everything you need to know is in there, and there's some cash for you as well."_

 _Bex held the items in her shaking hands as she looked at him in confusion. "Dad…I don't understand…"_

" _Don't come home, Rebekah, your things have already been sent to your dorm," he replied with a firmness to his tone. "This isn't your family anymore." Without another word, he walked away and went back to his wife, leaving Bex alone to deal with the items and everything else on her own._

 _Bex had no idea what was going on but if her parents wanted to write her off then so be it. Anger and grief fueled her as she stormed over to the Winchester brothers who were getting ready to leave. "I'm coming with you," she said to Sam, not really giving him an option in the matter._

" _Bex, I didn't tell you the truth for you to come along with us. We got this." The last thing he wanted was to put her in harm's way._

" _Too bad," she shot back and opened the backdoor of the Impala with no intention of budging. Bex was going with the brothers whether she was wanted or not. Jess was her family and she was damn well going to be a part in taking down the thing that ripped her out of her life._

All those thoughts went through Bex's mind as she sat in the back of the Impala and finally looked into the envelopes her father had given her day. One of them was full of cash, like he said, so she stashed it into her bag, and the other envelope was filled with paperwork – paperwork she didn't even know existed. Bex held in her hands adoption papers that included a description of how she was found; Literally left on the Moore family's doorstep.

Included with those papers was a handwritten letter from her father explaining everything in heartbreaking detail and a note at the end saying that when they found her, she was wearing the included necklace. Bex opened that small box at last and pulled out a leather string with a charm hanging from it – A charm that looked like a five-pointed star within a sun. She had no idea what this meant, but pulled it over her head anyway to wear it. Bex didn't want to be asked about it, though, so she tucked it under her shirt and out of sight.

Bex probably should have been more upset to find out that she had been adopted because her birth parents left her on their doorstep, along with the only clue as to who they were was the necklace she now wore, but she wasn't. It didn't matter in that moment – All Bex cared about right then and there was finding the demon that killed _her sister_ and make them **pay**.

She shoved the papers into the drawstring bag on the seat beside her and went back to looking at John Winchester's journal. Dean told her that if she was going to be tagging along then she'd better know what was really out there. Bex was a quick study with some tricks up her sleeve, so she figured she'd be just fine in figuring all this out. At least, that's what she convinced herself. It was amazing what grief and rage could bring out in a person.

"I feel like Clary Fairchild," she muttered to herself as she flipped a page in the book to read over the entries for the horrors present there.

Dean, who was driving, looked past his sleeping brother in the front seat and gave a quick glance to Bex in the back. "What was that?"

"How the hell is it possible that it's not common knowledge these things exist?" Bex asked, looking up from the journal. "There's no way all these things are out there and people just don't know it."

"That's what Hunters are for," Dean pointed out. "We do our job right, the masses never have to know. For a lot of people, ignorance is bliss."

"That's bull, but I bet you thought the same for me," Bex replied, looking at Dean's reflection in the rearview mirror. "I saw the look on your face when Sam told me what killed my sister."

Dean sighed a bit. "I admit that I didn't think you should be brought into this, but Sam knows you better than I do. If he thought it was for the best that you knew, then I wasn't going to actively try and stop him. Granted I never expected you would come with us."

Bex wasn't exactly sure why but she found herself rolling her eyes at that and went back to the journal.

Dean looked at her in the rearview mirror for a moment before asking, "Are you okay?"

"My sister was killed by the same demon that killed your mother," Bex shot back, using the previously learned information the brothers had given her. "How do you think I am?"

Dean just nodded a bit in a 'fair enough' way and was prevented from saying anything else because Sam woke up beside him with a jolt. "You okay?"

Sam cleared his throat before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Liar," Bex accused from the back. "You had another nightmare." She was having them pretty much every time she closed her eyes, too.

Sam just adjusted himself in his seat a bit, not wanting to answer that.

Dean was thinking the same thing – that Sam had another nightmare – and so he made an offer, "Want to drive for awhile?"

Sam chuckled in disbelief. "Dean, in your whole life, you never once asked me that."

Dean kept his eyes on the road. "Just thought you might want to. Never mind."

"Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay," Sam replied and his words didn't sit well with their female passenger.

"Stop the car," Bex demanded as she tossed the journal on the duffel bag beside her.

Dean didn't have any intention of doing that. "We're practically there. Can it wait?"

Bex answered this by shouting, "Stop the damn car!", and hitting the backs of the seats to make her point abundantly clear.

Dean finally took the hint and pulled right over. Before the car was even parked, Bex was out of the back and walking down the nearby bank, clearly pissed. "Find out what's wrong with her."

"Me?" Sam asked with an 'excuse me' tone. "You go talk to her." He didn't think he'd of much help himself and was thus trying to pawn it off on his brother.

"You know her better," Dean pointed out. "Look, Sam, if she's coming along for this then she can't be distracted. You know as well as I do that could get her killed. She clearly needs to talk to someone – she'll talk to you."

"She won't want to talk to me, Dean." Sam retorted, because he had a feeling that he was the reason behind Bex's current outburst – at least in a way.

Sam looked at his brother and saw the 'go, now' expression on his face, so with a sigh he got out of the car and went to go talk to Bex.

He didn't even get a chance to open his mouth to speak to her before she whipped around and shoved him.

"Perfectly okay?!" she shouted at him. "You're perfectly okay?! Jess is dead! Don't you give a damn about that!" With every question, she shoved him again and again.

He caught her by the wrists to stop her from doing that. "Of course I do," Sam answered honestly. "I loved her, Bex. I _**loved**_ her. And I hate myself for not being able to protect her but I can't…." He needed a moment before he could say anything more. "I can't feel that right now. I can't. So you can hate me, and blame me, and anything else all you want, but don't ever think that I don't care about Jess's death. I will carry that with me forever."

Bex yanked her hands away from him and stared him down for a few moments. She felt so empty inside, like Jess's death had carved out a part of her entire being and she had no idea how to fill it again – finding out she was adopted and her entire life had been a lie hadn't helped matters but she couldn't presently acknowledge that.

When Bex finally found her voice again, she all but seethed, "You should have told us the truth a long time ago, Sam. Things could have turned out differently if we knew. So, yeah, I do blame you. Because you didn't say shit." She walked past Sam back to the car and fumed, "Ignorance is bliss, my ass."

Sam took deep breaths to keep himself in check and followed her back to the car. Once inside, he plucked the map off the dashboard and got down to business. "Where are we?"

Dean, not asking about or acknowledging the overheard conversation between them, pulled back onto the road as he said, "We are just outside of Grand Junction."

Sam, thinking back to what Bex had said and Jess, thought aloud, "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."

"Sam," Dean countered, "we dug around there for a week and came up with nothing. If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica…"

Sam picked up from there, "We have to find Dad first."

Dean continued on saying, "Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years? It's no coincidence. Dad will have answers, he'll know what to do."

"And if he doesn't?" Bex asked as she scooted forward in her seat. "I know he's your dad and all, but I'm not about to put blind faith in a guy that I've never even heard about until recently. So, what do we do if he doesn't have anything helpful to say?"

"He will," Dean answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

Bex wasn't going to accept that answer. "What if he doesn't?"

"He will," Dean answered more firmly this time.

Bex scoffed and leaned back in her seat. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Black Water Ridge," Sam answered, looking at the map. "It's weird, though. There's nothing at these coordinates. It's just woods."

Bex leaned forward again to say, "Hold up, your father is sending you – well, _us_ because you're both stuck with me – to the middle of freaking nowhere? Why is he sending us to the middle of freaking nowhere?"

Dean and Sam looked at each other without saying a word because neither of them had an answer for her.

Bex narrowed her eyes at the brothers. "If this is one of those 'ignorance is bliss' moments, I'm _really_ getting sick of them."

* * *

Bex walked around the Ranger's Station, looking at all the stuff on the walls and such, while Sam was going on and on about what the terrain was like. It wasn't until he mentioned that there were quite a number of grizzlies in the area that she started paying more attention. "Grizzlies? Wonderful," she muttered, as if she didn't have enough to worry about.

One of the Rangers came in with a cup of coffee saying, "You three aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?"

Sam took lead by answering, "Oh, no, Sir. We're environmental study majors from UC Boulder. Just working on a paper."

Dean awkwardly put out his fist like he was fist bumping the air. "Recycle, man."

The Ranger wasn't buying it. "Bull. You're friends with that Hailey girl, aren't you?"

This time Bex answered, since Sam's way sure didn't work. "Yeah, we are." She ignored the looks the brothers had given her because of it.

The Ranger – Ranger Wilkinson – sighed. "Well, I'll tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it? Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine."

After Ranger Wilkinson walked away, Bex turned to the brothers. "See? We got some info, now were the looks really necessary?"

"You have no idea what you're doing," Dean pointed out, "so just stay out of it."

"That's not happening," Bex answered firmly. "I'm in this, whatever the hell this is, so you can either willingly teach me what I need to know or I will keep trying things out until something works."

"Don't argue with her Dean," Sam chimed in. "She's very adept at getting her own way."

Bex put her hands on her hips and smiled at Dean with mock innocence.

Dean was going to say something to her but an idea came to his mind so he walked off to find the Ranger and get a copy of that backcountry permit – something he didn't fill them in on until later.

"He has a point, you know," Sam quietly said to Bex. "If you go into something unprepared, you could end up…"

"What? Like my sister?" Bex practically spat back.

Sam took a deep breath before saying, "I'm trying to protect you here. It's my fault that you're in this, I get that, but that doesn't mean I like it. So as long as you're going to stick with us, you're going to have to deal with that I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"You should have reserved that for Jess." Bex knew that it was a low blow – again – and was starting to feel bad about it. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm talking to you like you're the one who killed her and you're not." She put her hands over her face and exhaled deeply. "Honestly I'm grateful to have you around. You're the only link I have to Jess left."

"You have your parents, Bex," Sam countered, but was quickly corrected.

"Actually," she scoffed, "I don't even know who they are." Bex saw the enquiring look on Sam's face, so she added in, "When all this is done, I'll tell you what I mean."

Sam stepped forward with hands up in a cautious manner. "I'm going to hug you now, because you look like you need one. So…Don't go attacking me or anything."

Bex rolled her eyes at that and hugged him back, actually feeling a little better for it.

Dean, having successfully gotten a copy of the permit, rejoined them. Upon seeing them hugging each other, he cleared his throat with a "Let's go."

Sam and Bex quickly released each other from their innocent and much needed hug, and followed Dean back out to the Impala.

On the way out, Bex asked, "What is that?" referring to the paper in his hand.

"Copy of the backcountry permit," Dean replied. "Figured we'd talking to this Hailey girl and figure out what we're walking into before we actually walk into it."

"You sure you're not just looking for a hookup?" Sam shot back as he walked around the car.

Dean stopped for a moment to say, "Excuse me?"

Sam scoffed. "Come on, Dean. The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So why don't we just go right out there and find Dad. What is the real point of talking to this girl?"

"Maybe she's part of why your father is out here," Bex suggested. At the brothers' questioning looks, she elaborated. "Hallie, or whatever her name is, thinks her brother is missing, right? Maybe your father was looking into it and that's why he's there." She looked between them and for the first time she actually felt stupid. "Or am I just talking out of my ass here?"

Dean considered this and looked a bit impressed by her theory. If she was right, then there was even more reason to talk to Hailey. "You know, you just might survive after all." Looking to Sam, he then asked, "And since when are you shoot first ask questions later?"

"Since now," Sam replied and got into the car without another word to say about it.

* * *

Bex actually laughed out loud when she heard the plan Dean was telling her. "Hold on, you're seriously telling me that we are going to go up to her house and say we're Park Rangers?"

"It's all part of what we do," Sam explained. "We need aliases and…"

Bex cut him off. "Oh, no, I get that, but there's no way she's going to buy it. Maybe if we had some sort of uniform then we might have a chance, but us in our casual-wear? There's no way."

Dean pulled up in front of Hailey's house and parked as he said, "Ye of little faith."

"Oh, I have faith," Bex answered as she got out of the car and followed him and Sam to the front door. "I'm chalk full of faith. I just don't happen to be sure of what I have faith _in_ anymore."

Dean chuckled lightly at this before ringing the doorbell. When a young woman answered, he took point by saying, "You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam, and that there is Rebekah. We're Rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."

Hailey eyed them all over for a moment before saying, "Let me see some ID."

Bex didn't even have the chance to worry about that because Dean pulled one out of his pocket and showed it to her. This made her wonder just how many aliases the brothers had between them. Her mind certainly went to some interesting places as she thought about it, at least where Dean was concerned. Sam was too much like her brother for her to think anything like _that_ about him, but Dean was a whole other story.

Hailey looked at the ID before stepping aside for them to enter. "Come on in." Once they started to, she caught sight of the Impala parked in front of her house. "That yours?" she asked Dean.

Dean practically beamed as he answered, "Yeah."

Hailey smiled, "Nice car."

Dean grinned as he walked into the house because he heard Bex mockingly say "Nice car" to Sam under her breath, but pretended like he didn't hear her say a word.

After being led to the dining room, Sam asked, "So if Tommy's not due back for awhile then how do you know something's wrong?"

"He checks in every day by cell," Hailey replied as she placed dinner on the table in front of her younger brother. "He emails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"I bet cell reception is pretty spotty up there," Bex suggested, even though she was supposed to stay quiet and listen.

"He's got a satellite phone, too," Hailey countered.

Dean took a shot by asking, "Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?"

"He wouldn't do that," the younger of the Collins brothers, Ben, said to them.

Hailey elaborated. "Our parents are gone. It's just me and my two brothers. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam then asked, thinking that if there was anything to be found it might be in those.

Hailey was more than willing to show them. "Sure." She brought them over to the computer and pulled them up. "That's Tommy," she pointed out. "And this was his last message." She played the short video for them.

Bex wasn't paying much attention to the conversation between Dean and Hailey about going to out Black Water Ridge because she thought she saw something on the video. After muting it, she played it again.

Sam was wondering what she was going so he checked in by looking over her shoulder and thought he saw the same thing she did.

Bex knew they couldn't get a good look at the footage here so she interrupted the conversation to say, "Hey, you think you could forward these to us?"

Hailey nodded with a "Sure," and that was pretty much the end of that.

* * *

Sam and Dean left Bex at the bar after going over the footage and finding that whatever the creature was, it moved so fast that it was only in three frames of the video. Bex wanted to stay while they went to go interview a guy who had survived a 'grizzly attack' when he was a kid. It was doubtful that it was grizzlies because the attacks and disappearances happened every twenty-three years like clockwork. So, yeah, even if Bex didn't now know about the supernatural word, so would have found that suspicious.

Bex knew that Sam wasn't too keen on leaving her at the bar but she made it clear that she had her fill of Scooby investigating, so she stuck behind. She had to do something to pass the time and drinking wasn't in the cards for the moment. If something as weird as they thought was going on then she would need to be clear-headed. If it was even possible with everything else going through her thoughts.

Once a pool table was cleared, she hurried up and claimed it, even though she was playing by herself. That didn't last too long before some guys came over to play with her as well. Bex allowed them, but only if bets were made first. She deliberately lost the first game but begged for a chance to win her money back and since the guy claimed he was feeling generous, he let her rack up another game with the additional bets on top of 'kitty' from the previous game. Yeah, Bex didn't lose the next game.

She just sunk the last ball to win the game when the brothers came back into the bar. Bex scooped up the cash with a grin. "That was fun, boys."

"You bitch," one of them seethed at her as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.

Dean and Sam both saw this and were about to intervene when the next thing they knew, Bex had the guy pressed face down onto the pool table with his arm bent up behind him.

"That is no way to talk to a lady." Bex spoke to him like a parent reprimanding a child. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" She lifted his arm a bit more to make her point before taking her leave without any more trouble from him or his buddies.

Bex took her winnings and put them into the pocket of Dean's jacket. "That should cover me for a bit." When she saw the 'wtf' looks on their faces as they looked at her she just asked, "What?"

"I have _never_ seen you do that before," Sam voiced when he found that he could.

"That's because you've never seen me working as a bar waitress during Spring Break," Bex replied and left it at that. She then put her hands on the back of her hips and asked, "So, Scooby Brothers, what did you find out?"

* * *

It wasn't until they were in the crappy motel room that they told her what they learned. At the end of the retelling of Mr Shaw's story and their opinions on what it could be, she said, "So…it's a corporeal being with big ass claws that could either be a Skinwalker or a Black Dog – whatever they are? And there's _nothing_ else that it could be?"

Dean answered quickly by saying, "Not necessarily. We won't know for sure until we get out there."

Bex scoffed an incredulous laugh. "Wow, that just makes me feel a whole lot better."

"I don't want you to come tomorrow," Sam interjected. "We don't know what we're dealing with for sure and you are just barely getting into the Hunting scene. I'm not about to let anything happen to you too." He was starting to feel like a broken record.

"More like you don't want to feel like you have to babysit me," she retorted with a knowing look. "I'm going and that's that. I may have skipped the interview with Mr Shaw, but there's no way in hell I'm missing this." With that said, she got up from the foot of one of the twin beds, grabbed a pillow and blanket, and headed for the bathroom.

Dean had no idea what she was doing and looked at her oddly for doing whatever it was. "Uh…Bex?"

"What?" she asked, from the doorway of the bathroom. When Dean gestured to the stuff she was holding, she said with an 'oh, that' tone, "I'm going to sleep in the tub. G'night."

Dean wasn't expecting that and found that he had no words, so he looked at Sam in question.

"I can't explain her," Sam replied as he pulled down the covers. "She finds a way to sleep anywhere."

Dean accepted that answer and if she was going to be on the road with them for awhile then it was a good trait to have, but now that wasn't what was on his mind. "Dammit, I have to take a leak."

"Don't mind me," Bex called from the bathroom, followed by the sound of the rings of the shower curtain being closed. "I won't look!"

Dean shook his head with a scoffed chuckle and Sam just simply laughed because it wasn't surprising to him in the least that those words came out of her mouth.

* * *

"Last chance to stay here," Dean said to Bex as she walked out of the motel room with her bag the following morning. Now he was taking on a 'protective shift' where Bex was concerned.

"Are you saying that you don't want me to go either?" she asked with a raised brow.

"The fewer people I have to worry about, the better," he replied, going around the Impala to the driver's side.

Bex simply rolled her eyes at that and got into the backseat of the car once again.

Dean needed a moment to center himself because the possibility of Bex getting hurt out there just hit him and it didn't sit with him very well. After clearing his throat, he got in and once things were set, he put the car into gear and drove off.

* * *

None of them said anything on the way to meet up with Hailey and the others. Bex was too consumed with reading over the adoptions papers, etc. again, and the brothers seemed to have their own things on their mind. Just as well, since they didn't know what they were dealing with for sure this was going to be more of a hands-on learning experience.

Bex put the papers back into her black denim drawstring bag and closed it up when she saw that they would be stopping soon. Once they were out of the car, Dean asked, "Got room for three more?"

"Who are they?" Roy, Hailey's guide, asked her.

"This is apparently all Parks Services could muster up for search and rescue," she answered.

Roy looked at them in disbelief. "You're Rangers?"

"That's right," Dean answered with a smile and stopped Bex before she could go over to the others. "Official last chance to back out."

"Officially the last time I'm telling you that it's not going to happen." Bex wasn't going to budge on this no matter what and picked up the pace to catch up with the others.

Hailey looked at Bex and her attire of a brown leather jacket over a v-neck tee-shirt, jeans, and high-top lace-up combat boots and scoffed. "You're going hiking like that?"

"What can I say? I left my hiking gear at home," Bex snarked back with the truth.

"You think this is funny?" Roy asked her. "It's dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be hurt."

Dean stepped in before Bex said something that could get them into a heap of a mess. "Believe me, we know how dangerous it can be. Look, we just want to help them find their brother. That's all." With that said, he guided Bex away and over to Sam who was waiting a little ways ahead.

"I don't need you to rescue me," Bex mildly seethed at him. "I'm not a damsel in distress."

"Perhaps," he answered calmly, "but you are someone who has just lost their sister so emotions are high for you right now. Last thing we need is you blowing our cover."

"Aww, so you do care," she replied sarcastically and picked up the pace to meet up with Sam without him.

* * *

They were hiking for a bit before Hailey had enough and had to find out who the hell the three of them really were. She stopped Dean while the others went on ahead and said, "You didn't pack any provisions. Your girlfriend has a little backpack and Sam's carrying a duffel bag. None of you are Park Rangers, so who the hell are you guys?"

Dean was about to put a spin on their cover but instantly heard Bex's voice in his head saying, 'ignorance is bliss, my ass'. He chuckled silently to himself because of it before saying, "Sam and I are brothers. We're here looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured we were in the same boat and all."

"And Rebekah? Is she your girlfriend?" Hailey further inquired, wanting to know.

Dean thought for a second, trying to find the right words. Finally he settled on, "She's...a friend."

Hailey sighed, focusing on the important parts, "Why didn't you say any of this before?"

"Going the Park Ranger route seemed like a good idea at the time," Dean replied with a grin. "And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" He pulled a big bag of M&M's from his pocket with a pleased look on his face and turned around to catch up with the others.

Once he joined them, Bex must have seen the bag of candy because she held her hand out without a word, so he obligingly poured some into it before enjoying a handful for himself.

* * *

Bex had no idea how long they'd been hiking for but finally they came to the boundary of Black Water Ridge. She stood there, looking into the forest ahead and shuddered a bit. "That has got to be the loudest silence ever," she said to herself, but Dean and Sam both heard her and were thinking essentially the same thing. There wasn't a sound to be heard in that area – not even crickets.

Now that they were there, Roy checked his rifle as he said, "I'm going to look around."

"We should stay together," Dean countered.

Roy laughed at that. "How sweet of you to worry," was his sarcastic reply as he walked past him and over the boundary line.

Dean turned back to address the group. "Everyone stays together." He couldn't have been any clearer about that before they too crossed the boundary and ventured deeper into the Black Water Ridge.

Bex took a deep breath and followed along, wishing that she had more than just the little jackknife on her person in case she needed to defend herself against a wild animal or…something else.

They didn't venture too deep before Roy called out, "Hailey, over here!"

They all rushed over to where Roy's voice came from and found the campsite completely destroyed. There was even blood on the shredded tents.

"Looks like a grizzly," Roy commented as he inspected the site.

Bex slowly walked around, feeling like she had just stepped into a scene out of a horror movie. She even jumped slightly when Dean touched her shoulder to show her something.

"Look at this," he said to her quietly and showed her the tracks on the ground. They followed the tracks away from the site until they stopped not all that far away.

At this point, Dean called Sam over and told them both at the same time what they meant. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite," he said to them in hushed tones, "but right here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird."

Bex scooped up some of the dirt where the tracks ended and asked, "Weird enough to not be a Skinwalker or a Black Dog?" She dropped the dirt and stood to look at him.

Dean nodded, "Exactly," and led the way back to camp.

Bex adjusted her bag on her shoulders and followed with a heavy sigh. Once they got there, she saw Hailey trying to hold back tears as she picked up a broken cellphone. Without really thinking about it, she went over to her and said, "Hey, your brother could still be alive."

"Do you really believe that?" Hailey sniffled. "Can you really have that much faith?"

"I have a lot of faith," Bex answered, feeling as if she'd already said this before, "I just don't have anything to put it in anymore."

Before anything else could be said, someone was screaming out in the distance calling for help. The entire group took off towards the voice until it stopped and they found nothing.

"Didn't it sound like it came from around here?" Hailey asked as she looked around.

Bex had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. "I don't like this," she said to Sam.

Sam happened to agree, "Everyone back to camp. Now!"

Hearing the urgency in his voice, they all hightailed it back there only to find that those who left their packs, no longer had them.

"Our packs!" Hailey exclaimed because they were all gone. "What the hell is going on!"

"So much for my satellite phone," Roy muttered to himself as he looked around.

"It's smart," Sam said to the group. "It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help."

"You mean someone," Roy countered. "Some nut job out there that stole all our gear."

Bex went over to Sam and said something quietly to him to the others wouldn't hear and think she was insane. "Sam, this reminds me of something I saw in your father's journal…" That was apparently all she needed to say because he filled in the blanks from there.

Sam cocked his head for her to follow and went over to Dean, saying, "I need to speak with you in private." He led the way and once they were out of earshot, he stopped and turned to Dean. "Let me see Dad's journal."

Dean pulled it out of his inner jacket pocket and handed it over.

Sam unlatched it and flipped through the pages to find what he was thinking of. Before turning it to Dean, he showed it to Bex, "This?"

Bex tapped the page. "That's exactly what I was thinking of." She _really_ hoped it wasn't because she hadn't gotten too far into the description before going 'nope' and moving onto something else.

Sam had a feeling it was, and turned it then to Dean. "Take a look at this."

Dean looked at the page and almost laughed. "Oh, come on. Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west."

Sam closed the book, saying, "Think about it, Dean. The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice."

Dean was inclined to agree now. "Great," he muttered, then held up the gun he had on him, "Then this is useless."

"Why?" Bex asked, looking between them. "How do we kill the Wendi-whatever it is? I doubt it's like that Charmed episode where they fired a flare gun at the thing."

"Fire," Dean answered, simply enough, ignoring her TV show reference because he's never even seen the thing and had no intention of starting to.

Bex was so nervous that she made a joke to Sam, saying, "If you and Jess just let me try that cigarette then I'd be addicted to them now and we'd have a lighter."

Sam ignored the joke and said, "We need to get you and these people to safety," before joining the others at camp, calling out, "All right, listen up. It's time to go."

Bex flexed her hands a bit because she was getting tired of this. "I may be a little worried and scared as hell, but I _don't_ need to be taken care of."

Dean didn't say anything about that and just gestured for her to come along with him back to camp.

When they walked onto the site presently, Roy was saying, "Kid, don't worry about it. Whatever is out there, I'm sure I can handle it."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Sam replied, eyeing the area. "If you shoot this thing, you're just going to make it mad. We have to leave, now."

Roy wasn't putting up with this. "One, you're talking nonsense, two, you're in no position give anybody orders."

Dean didn't want this escalating, so he interjected with, "Relax."

Sam didn't stop and continued to say, "We never should have let you come out in the first place, alright. I'm trying to protect you."

Roy scoffed incredulously before saying, " _You_ protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight." He was right up in Sam's face at this point.

Sam let his comment pass and went on to warn him. "It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you. And it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here."

Roy laughed and pushed Sam a little. "You know you're crazy, right?"

During this exchange, Bex asked Dean, "Should we stop him?"

"He's got it," Dean replied but when Sam was about to ask Roy if he ever hunted a Wendigo, Dean stepped in before he got the chance.

"Thought so," Bex said to herself and joined the group as Hailey was telling everyone to stop.

Hailey addressed the group and made something very clear. "Tommy might still be alive and…and I'm not leaving here without him."

Dean, Sam, and Bex all exchanged looks with each other before Dean said, "It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it – not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves."

As Dean walked past them to get started, Bex looked at him and asked, "How?"

* * *

The sun had set by this time and Dean answered Bex's question by showing her how to make the symbols to keep the Wendigo back. Presently Bex asked, "What are these again?"

"Anasazi symbols," Dean replied loud enough for Hailey and her brother to hear as well. "It's for protection. The Wendigo can't cross over them."

Even though Hailey and Ben believed them now, Roy still didn't and he laughed at the whole idea.

Dean continued to trace the symbols in the dirt around the site as he said, "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy."

Once Dean was done with the symbols and went over to talk to Sam, Bex sat with Hailey and Ben around the campfire. She had the feeling it was time for them to talk without her being around to hear it, so she stayed out of their way.

"Do you have any family?" Hailey asked out of nowhere.

Bex needed a second to answer for two reasons – she wasn't sure if she heard right, and wasn't quite sure how to answer it. "A sister," she finally said to her. "She died. And that's why I get what you're going through. If there was even the slightest chance that my sister was still alive I would move hell and high water to get to her."

"That's something to have faith in, in a way." Hailey wasn't sure why she was talking about this, but it didn't stop her. "You can faith in what you'd do for others."

Bex sighed as she looked over at Sam and Dean as she answered, "No, I have something else to put it in now." When Hailey looked at her in question, she pointed over to the brothers. "Them."

A moment later a man's voice was heard screaming out, "Help me! Help!"

Bex stayed standing near the fire as Dean cocked his gun while Sam shone the flashlight into the trees. The voice sounded very close but they couldn't find the source.

"It's trying to draw us out," Dean said to the group. "Just stay cool. Stay put."

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asked incredulously.

"Inside the freaking magic circle," Bex shot back. "Unless you want to die, then by all means, go ahead and cross over."

"Not helping," Dean said to her, even though his eyes were still on the trees because the voice calling out for help turned into a loud growl and the source of it was speeding through the plant life around them.

"Okay, that's no Grizzly," Roy stated, pointing out what the others already knew.

The growling was getting louder and it was now right on top of them. Bex guided Hailey and Ben back to the campfire. "Stay here. It hates fire." She had no idea of that would actually help, but she had to feel like she was doing something while Roy was trying to shoot the thing with his rifle.

"I hit it!" Roy exclaimed and took off after the thing, ignoring Dean as he called out for him to stop.

Dean looked back to Bex and made his next words as clear as he could, "Don't move!", before taking off with Sam after Roy.

"Sam!" she called out, trying to keep calm but her voice broke a bit when she shouted, "Dean!" Bex took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm, before turning back to Hailey and Ben. "Stay near the fire," was all she said to them, even though they were already as close to it as they could get.

* * *

Bex paced back and forth in front of the campfire until they came back. When they did return – without Roy – she ran right to Sam and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

Sam hugged her back without a word then joined the others around the fire.

"What? No hug for…" Dean didn't get a chance to get his teasing sentence out before Bex hugged him as well. It felt different than it appeared with her hug with Sam. Dean would swear that he could feel Bex relax against him and he slowly hugged her back, silently telling her that it was going to be okay.

* * *

Morning finally came after taking shifts to keep the fire going as big as they could safely keep it, but everyone felt a bit better when the sun rose over the horizon.

Bex, split the couple of candy bars she had at the bottom of her bag with the group, even though she honestly wasn't sure how old they were. Not feeling in the least hungry, she went over to the not too far off tree stump where Sam sat and plopped herself down beside him, handing over the last piece.

As he took it from her and ate it with a "Thanks," she asked, "Did Jessica know I was adopted?"

Sam stopped mid-bite because this was the first he'd heard of it. "You are? If she knew, she didn't tell me." After a second, he thought to ask, "Did _you_ know?"

"Just found out, literally," Bex replied. "After Jess' funeral my mother told me she wished it was me, and my father excommunicated me with a couple of envelopes and a piece of jewelry. One of them had my adoption papers in it with a letter telling me that they never wanted to keep me but once Jess reached out and took my hand, and didn't want to let it go, they knew they didn't really have a choice." She sniffled back her tears before looking at him. "That's why I said I didn't even know who my parents are." She gave his hand a squeeze, "You truly are the last link to Jess I have left, Sam. Don't do anything stupid. I would lose my mind if I lost you, too."

Bex had nothing more to say and since Sam didn't seem to have anything to say either, she got up with an 'oomph' and joined the others.

"You okay?" Dean asked when she joined them.

"You mean aside from the fact that there's some Hannibal Lector but meaner creature after us?" She replied with snark but couldn't keep up the act and sighed deeply. "I've been better, but yeah…I'm okay."

Sam walked onto the campsite presently. "Hey. So, we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one…want to kill this evil son of a bitch."

Dean was pleased to hear that. "Well, hell, you know I'm in."

"I second that," Bex added in, raising her hand with a bit of a smirk, "Whether you like it or not. So, how about a crash-course in all things Wendigo?"

Sam was just thinking the same thing. He showed Bex, Hailey, and Ben the Wendigo entry in his father's Journal and explained, "Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means, 'evil that devours'."

"They're hundreds of years old," Dean added in. "Each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian or other times a frontiersman, or a miner, a hunter."

"How does a man turn into one of those things?" Hailey asked and this time Bex answered.

"It goes all Hannibal Lector on someone." Bex looked at the brothers for confirmation. "I read that part right? You eat human flesh, become something else, and go all 'rawr!'?"

Dean chuckled briefly at her description. "That's putting it lightly, but yeah. Some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help – becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

"Like the Donner party," Ben stated.

Sam nodded. "That's right. Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities – speed, strength, immortality."

Dean picked up from there. "If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less-than-human thing. You're always hungry."

Hailey took a breath. "So, if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?"

Dean looked at Sam who nodded, giving him permission to tell her. Turning back to Hailey, Dean said, "You're not gonna like it."

Hailey needed to know. "Tell me."

Dean recognized that tone, it was the same tone Bex used when she wanted to know how Jess died the way she did. Pushing that memory aside for the time being, he kept on topic. "A Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time. When it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It stores them so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. And we got to track it back there."

"And then how do we stop it?" Was Hailey's next question.

"Well," Dean sighed, "guns are useless – so are knives. Basically…" he held up the items he had collected from the stray items left in the camp to make a firebomb, "…we got to torch the sucker."

* * *

Dean took the lead with his version of a Molotov Cocktail in hand and the lighter that he found. There were distinct claw marks in the trees that they were following and honestly, it didn't sit well with Bex.

"Okay, this is the part of the movie where someone realizes that this is too easy," Bex voiced to group as she stopped.

Dean stopped as well so he could say to her, "This isn't a movie, Bex."

Bex crossed her arms with an 'I know that' expression on her face. "All the same, this is too easy."

"She's right," Sam said to his brother. "Look around, Dean. The claw marks are all over the place, they're very distinct – easy to follow…almost as if they were deliberate."

As soon as he said that, a loud growling was heard nearby followed by the sound of rustling leaves as the Wendigo sped around them.

Bex didn't realize it, but she was practically right on top of Dean, standing so close to him. If he noticed, he didn't do or say anything about it.

All attention was pulled to Hailey when she screamed as Roy's body fell from the trees above them. Sam helped the terrified Hailey to her feet as Dean checked on Roy. "His neck's broken." The growling was even closer now so Dean repeated, "Run!" and "Go!" over and over to get the group's ass kicked into gear and get moving.

Bex and Dean were running in the lead because Ben had tripped, so Hailey and Sam rushed to help him up. When they ran around a large tree the Wendigo snarled and stood right in front of them. The next thing Bex knew, a scream escaped her before the Wendigo took hold and speedily dragged them away.

* * *

When Bex awoke she was in some pain and had no idea where she was. All she knew was that Hailey and Ben were trying to wake her up and she must have been hanging from something by her arms because they were sore as hell.

Bex groaned as they got her down and sat against the wall next to Dean. She coughed heavily which just made her ribs hurt. "I'm going to rip that thing's head off," she seethed with a cough, even though she knew there was no way that she could possibly do that.

"Not if I get to it first," Dean replied, feeling just as pissed as she seemed to be.

"It's gone for now," Sam informed them. "We have to get out of here.

After getting Bex's hands free, Hailey and Ben found their brother nearby and discovered that he was alive. Bex smiled at this and pulled herself to her feet to see what Dean was up to. It seemed this was also where the Wendigo stashed the stolen stuff and amongst the items were flare guns. Seeing those almost made her laugh. "That is so Charmed."

"I think your show knew their lore after all." Dean spun the flare guns in his hands. "These will work."

* * *

The group slowly made their way through what looked to Bex to be mining tunnels. If they were something else, she couldn't have guessed but it didn't matter. All that did was getting the hell out of there.

With Sam and Dean in the lead, each with a flare gun in hand, they raised them when growling was heard nearby. "Looks like someone's home for supper," Dean half joked.

"We'll never outrun it," Hailey pointed out, not to be a buzz kill but logical.

Dean looked at his brother to ask, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sam answered, the flare gun still raised.

Bex looked between them and could take a guess. "If you're thinking that we should split up then I think you're both insane!"

The growling was getting closer, so Dean turned to address the group. "All right, listen to me. Stay with Sam, he's gonna get you out of here."

Bex quickly moved over to him. "Dean, no." She looked at him with pleading eyes because the thought of anything happening to him too scared the living hell out of her.

Dean gave her a wink before taking off, screaming out, "It's chow time, you freakin' bastard!" And other things to get the Wendigo's attention.

"Son of a bitch," Bex seethed to herself before going with Sam and the others to get out of there, hoping like hell that Dean would get out of there alive as well.

* * *

Bex wasn't sure how far they got before growling was heard in the distance. It seemed the Wendigo chose to go after them instead of Dean. Bex didn't say this aloud but in a way, she was kinda relieved and that just made her feel insane.

Sam stopped and said to them, "Get out of here, go."

Even though Hailey started to walk away with her brothers, Bex didn't move an inch. "I'm not leaving you, Sam."

"This isn't the time to be stubborn, Rebekah!" Sam hushedly shouted at her. "Go!"

Bex pointed at him firmly. "Don't you die on me, idiot." Without another word, she took off to catch up with the others.

It wasn't long before they heard some kind of an explosion and loud growling that made them all look back. "Sam!" Bex called out and was answered by him running towards them.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Sam urged them along as fast as they could go because the Wendigo was right on their tail.

"You know how I love horror movies even though I hate Halloween?" Bex said to Sam as they ran because she was freaking out a bit. "Well, I never wanted to live in one!"

"You're the one who wanted to come along," Sam pointed out as they quickly turned the corner.

"And I wouldn't change that decision for anything!" Bex made very clear, "Just let me freaking complain about it!"

Their stressed-out conversation was cut very short when they hit a dead end. When Sam realized this, and knew there was no way out, he said, "Get behind me," to them all and stood in front of them like a human shield.

Bex stood behind him as directed but held onto his arm with her hand. If they were going to die then they were going out together.

It wasn't long before the Wendigo in all its grotesque glory rounded the corner and stood in front of them. It stood straight and _well_ over six feet tall and despite its lanky build, it seemed to block the entire passage. The Wendigo let out a shrieking roar before turning around to see the source of the shouted, "Hey!" from behind it.

Dean fired the flare at the Wendigo, burning it up from the inside out. As soon as the Wendigo was dead and burning on the ground, Dean half smirked at the group. "Not bad, huh?"

Bex, feeling relieved to see Dean standing there for more reasons than one, felt comfortable enough in the moment to tease, "Your timing could have been bit sooner," then winked.

* * *

When they made it out of the forest and back to the Ranger's station, they called the EMTs, etc. to get Tommy to the hospital. While Tommy was being loaded into the ambulance, Ben and Sam told the police that it was a **huge** Grizzly bear that tore apart the campsite and blamed all other injuries on getting away from it and what not.

After a paramedic cleared Bex, she went over and sat next to Dean on the Impala. "So…I was half right."

Dean turned a bit to face her better. "About what?"

"I was right about your dad sending you here. I was just wrong about him being here too," she explained. "I hope you guys find him, Dean. And not just because I want answers, I hope you find him for you." Bex kissed Dean's cheek in that moment, without really thinking about it, then got into the back of the Impala.

Sam, who saw this happen as he said goodbye to Hailey and the others, went over to his brother. "Don't even think about it."

Dean chuckled innocently. "Don't think about what?"

"I mean it, Dean. Don't mess with her." Sam looked at Bex who was already asleep in the backseat of the car.

Dean's reply to that was, "I don't plan on messing with her." Moving away from this topic, he said, "We'll find Dad, don't worry."

Sam almost gave him props for the segue. "I know," he sighed then held out his hand for the car keys, "But in the meantime, I'm driving."

Dean instantly regretted making that offer before but tossed the keys to him anyway and got into the passenger's side. Before getting in, though, he stopped for a moment to see Bex sleeping against the window. Dean had to give her credit where it was due and ever though she was a newbie Hunter, there was one thing he was already certain of – she was a survivor.

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 2


	3. Why did it have to be Lake Manitoc?

Bex was looking over the newspapers that Dean cast aside as they sat in the roadside diner for breakfast. "So, you guys look for stuff that seems hinky and check it out?" she asked as she stole a piece of bacon off Dean's plate.

"Paws off." Dean tried to get his bacon back but Bex already popped it into her mouth with a pleased with herself grin. "Sometimes, yeah."

"There's not an easier way - like a Supernatural radar or something?" Bex enquired and when Dean looked at her with a 'come on, now' look, she said, "Hey, if Wendi-whatevers, Demons, and all this other crap exists, then why can't something exist that's able to pinpoint their location?"

Dean didn't answer her right off because he was distracted by the passing waitress. "It doesn't work like that." Based off his tone, he was clearly thinking about something else.

Bex rolled her eyes at that, but didn't comment on it. She didn't need to though, because Dean could read the look on her face.

"We're allowed to have fun, Bex. And depending on what you're into," Dean pointed towards the waitress, " _That_ can be fun."

"I'm not into hooking up with random strangers, thank you very much. Not really into relationships either. I'm down for more of the friends with benefits scenario." Bex then waved her hand in a 'shoo' way, "But if random sex is all you're down for, then by all means, go ahead. Just don't come crying to me when you end up getting Demon Pox or something."

Dean was too focused on her Demon Pox comment to hear anything else. "What the hell is Demon Pox?"

"Hopefully just a fictional disease," Bex answered, and then Sam joined them at the counter.

"What's a fictional disease?" he asked, wondering what he missed.

"Demon Pox," Bex answered before finishing off her drink.

Sam thought for a moment. "You mean from that book series you were obsessed about?" He caught his brother's glance and explained, "For the longest time it was all Jess and Bex could talk about."

"We weren't _that_ obsessed," Bex retorted then cleared her throat a bit because she tried not to think about that time with her sister and changed subject. "So, Dean, you find anything hinky?"

Dean answered by tossing over the newspaper he was looking at with the circled obituary. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water – nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."

"A funeral?" Sam asked as he looked at the paper.

"Yeah, weird," Dean replied. "They buried an empty coffin for closure or whatever."

"Whatever gets you through," Bex cleared her throat and got up from her seat. "I'll leave you boys to discuss this while I go powder my nose." She was being sarcastic with that but headed off to the ladies room nonetheless.

Bex locked the door behind her, looked into the mirror and shuddered. "Why did it have to be Lake Manitoc?" she said to herself, remembering the last time she was there. It was her very last time because something happened on that day she never wanted to experience again. Hell, there was a part of her that didn't want to even remember it.

When she headed back to the dining area, the brothers were getting ready to go. "Are we going to Lake Manitoc?" A part of her was really hoping that they wouldn't. This wasn't a chapter in her life that she never wanted to revisit.

"You going to be okay with that?" Sam asked, knowing what happened before. At least, he thought he did. All he knew was that Bex almost drowned in a Lake. He had no idea that it was _that_ lake.

"After that Wendi-whatever, I think I can deal with a body of water." Bex was trying to sound convincing, but honestly wasn't so sure if she succeeded. If either brother noticed a wavering to her voice, they didn't say a word about it.

Since Sam was the first out of the diner, Dean walked out with Bex and asked, "The friends with benefits comment before…was that an offer or merely a statement of fact?"

Bex just grinned at him with a wink and didn't answer either way.

Dean groaned in a 'you're killing me' manner and followed after her.

* * *

It wasn't until they were on the road that Dean asked, "So, Bex, what's with you and water?"

Bex, who was sitting in the front seat this time, glared at Sam in the back.

Sam held up his hands innocently. "It wasn't me."

"You weren't too subtle back there," Dean pointed out, before asking, "You can't swim or something?"

"I can swim," she answered defensively. "I just…can't swim in open water. I almost drowned in a lake once and I haven't been able to step near once since. Okay? Can we please just drop it?" There was clearly more to this story but not even Sam knew what it was and she was not about to tell them her history with Lake Manitoc.

Dean looked at her to say something else but with one look he could see that she was no way in hell going to continue with this topic of conversation, so he just turned on the radio and continued on driving without another word.

* * *

After a couple pit stops, another training session and so on, they arrived at Lake Manitoc. Their first stop was the Carlton's place to learn some more about Sophie Carlton. Bex didn't spend much time with the Carlton family so she doubted that she'd be recognize. Besides, it's been years.

The three of them walked up to the door and Dean took the lead by knocking and when a young man answered, he asked, "Will Carlton?"

"Yeah, that's right," he replied, opening the door the little wider.

Dean proceeded to introduce himself and the others with the aliases he picked out. "I'm Agent Ford, and these are Agents Hamill," he then gestured to Bex, "and Fisher. We're with the US Wildlife Service." He even went so far as to show him ID.

Bex was still amazed that this aliases and fake IDs actually worked and was also relieved that Will Carlton apparently wasn't a fan of Star Wars _and_ that he didn't recognize her.

They walked with Will down to the lake as he told them what happened to his sister. "She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down."

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked, needing to be sure of that.

"She was a varsity swimmer," Will explained as he looked out into the water. "She practically grew up in that lake. She's as safe out there as she is in her own bathtub."

Bex knew she should have something to ask, _something_ to say that might be useful to either of them but…she had nothing. She felt like she couldn't say anything. This was making her feel like she was living that day over again.

It took all she had to keep her back to the water and try very hard not to think about the last time she was there.

Thankfully for Bex, Sam had some questions. "There was no splashing? No signs of distress?"

Will confirmed that. "No, nothing, that's what I'm telling you."

"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Sam continued to ask. "Maybe some dark shape breached the surface?"

Will cross his arms with a shake to his head. "No, but like I said, she was really far out there."

Bex didn't hear Dean's following questions because her eyes moved over to the man sitting on the dock with a look of pure grief on his face. He must have been Sophie's father. She had seen a look like that before when…

Bex was pulled from her thoughts when she felt Dean's hand touch her elbow with a cock to his head telling her it was time to go. She nodded and followed him back to the car while Sam talking to Will a little bit more to see if they could speak to his father.

"You zoned out there," Dean pointed out once they reached the car. "You can't do that, Bex. You _have_ to pay attention."

"I know," she sighed. "It won't happen again."

Dean was about to open his door but paused to ask. "Do you need to sit this one out?"

"I can handle it, Dean," she shot back and got into the backseat of the car this time, without a word.

Sam heard this exchange between them and took a breath. He was starting to get the feeling that there was more to her last lake endeavor than he knew. And until he knew what it was, there wasn't much he could do about it, so the case would have to come first.

* * *

Bex went with Sam and Dean to the Sherriff's Department but didn't get very far before she stopped dead in her tracks. "I'll wait outside," she said to the brothers but didn't make it out the door before she heard the woman's voice say, "Rebekah Moore? Is that you?" there was surprise and disdain in the woman's voice.

"Andrea…hi…" Bex didn't know what else to say.

Andrea walked past the brothers and right up to her. "What are you doing here, Rebekah?"

"I'm just passing through," she swore. "I didn't even know you still lived here."

"Maybe you'd know if you bothered to come back after my brother died because of you!" Andrea shouted back.

" **Andrea,** " the Sherriff said firmly behind her, getting her to stop.

Bex's voice cracked as she said, "I – I'm sorry," before high tailing it the hell out of there.

* * *

Bex sat on the trunk of the Impala as she waited for the brothers to finish talking to the Sherriff. She couldn't even imagine how hard it could be for them now because of her. If she knew that Andrea still lived there then she never would have come.

Her eyes looked up when she heard footsteps approaching and saw Dean coming towards her. To her surprise, Sam hung back a bit. "Find out anything useful?" she asked, hoping that he wasn't going to ask her what Andrea's comment was about but she was to be disappointed.

"We'll get to that," he replied. "What was that in there, Bex? The truth."

Bex pressed her hands together and brought them to her mouth before rubbing them together in front of her. "This isn't my first time here, Dean. I used to come here almost every Summer. I had a friend, a best friend, who I spent all my time with. He – he was Andrea's younger brother. Anyway, um, the day that I almost drowned…was the day that he did." Bex couldn't go into more details but it was an accident. It didn't stop her from feeling guilty about it ever since that day, though.

All Dean said in reply was, "There's a motel not far from here. We're checking in there."

Bex found it hard to believe that he didn't have a comment after what she just told him. "That's it?"

Dean sighed to himself before saying, "We all have baggage, Bex. You didn't tell me the details but I doubt you held his head under the water, so you're not a murderer. Grief makes people do and say things – something I'm pretty sure you're well aware of."

Bex just nodded in reply and got off the back of the Impala as Dean said, "Oh, and Bex, you sit on my car like that again, I'll kick your ass."

"So you're into the kinky stuff?" she teased as she got into the backseat. "Good to know."

Dean just scoffed a chuckle as he, too, got in and once Sam joined them they went to the motel.

* * *

The brothers filled Bex in on how the dam was falling apart and how before long the lake was going to be drained out and there wouldn't be much of one left. That was the gist of the stuff they had learned and Sam was doing more research presently while Dean was making a quick trip to the convenience store.

"Find anything?" Bex asked as she stuck her head over Sam's shoulder but saw that he wasn't looking at the recent Lake Manitoc articles but the article published from the worst Summer of her life. "You've got to be kidding me," she seethed.

Sam turned around and stood up to explain. "I just wanted to get the facts."

"I'm pretty sure you overheard everything I said!" Bex shouted back.

"You didn't say how it happened, Bex. I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is." That's what Sam wanted to do – help her.

"That's not your job! I'm not your responsibility, Sam. I can take care of myself and I can deal with my own shit in my own way." Bex was fuming at this point.

Sam tried to get her to see where he was coming from. "You're Jess's sister. So as long as you're in this, that makes you my responsibility."

She crossed her arms with a heavy scoff and said the first thing that came to her mind through her muddled thoughts. "I'm only doing this hunting stuff until we kill the son of a bitch that killed her. Once they're dead, I'm **done**. So don't make this more than what it is, Sam, because it's not." Bex couldn't make that any clearer.

Neither of them could say another word because Dean came in with a paper bag in his hand. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Bex answered, and grabbed the bottle of cola Dean picked up for her out of the bag and sat herself cross-legged on the bed.

Sam avoided his brother's questioning look and went back to his computer, "There's the three drowning victims from this year and six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

Bex, focusing on the case, asked, "Please tell me we don't have a Loch Ness Monster on our hands. I don't remember seeing one then but then again…I don't really remember what happened."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, looking at her. "Because so far, you're our only witness."

"One second I was swimming, the next I was drowning. Then my best friend dives in after me and he drowns instead. That's all I remember." Bex shot back. "If I remembered something useful don't you think I'd tell you?!"

"They never found his body either, Bex. This is connected, but the lake monster theory bugs me," Sam replied, choosing to not ask for more details and getting the topic off Bex.

This intrigued Dean. "Why?"

"Loch Ness, Lake Champlain – there are hundreds of eyewitness accounts there, but here…nothing," he explained. "Whatever is out there, no one is living to talk about it. Except for Bex, of course."

"Maybe the lake is possessed by a demon," Bex suggested then her expression dropped. "Please tell me that's not a thing."

Neither brother answered because Dean saw something on Sam's screen. "Barr. Christopher Barr, where have I heard that name before?"

"Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam clicked on the link and a screen popped up of the newspaper article from that event. "Oh, Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas' father."

When Bex heard this, she shot up from the bed and went to look at the screen herself. Seeing the picture of the young boy on the screen made her eyes widen a little. "He looks just like his uncle," she thought aloud. It was like looking at a picture of the past.

Bex turned the computer to face her better and read from the screen. "Christopher took Lucas out swimming and he was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned." When she read the next part, she stood straight. "It was two hours before Lucas was rescued." She took a shaky breath to compose herself a little. "What is it with this family and drowning?" she said to herself before turning the computer back to Sam as she sat down again.

Sam looked at the screen and scratched his head a bit in thought. "Maybe we have another eyewitness after all."

"Let me talk to him," Bex said without really thinking about it.

"That's not a good idea…" Sam started to say but was soon cut short.

Bex got up and went to the door as she said, "I know it's not, but I'm going to do it anyway," before walking through it.

* * *

Bex stood at the park feeling like a creeper as she saw Andrea watching Lucas sitting alone and drawing with some Army men. Maybe this was a bad idea – it's not like Andrea would let her anywhere near her son.

"We got this," Sam said to Bex as he and Dean approached. "You don't have to do anything, Bex."

"Yes, I do," she countered. "I owe it to this family." Without another word, Bex went over to Andrea. She could see that Andrea was about to rip her apart but she held out her hands and started speaking before she had the chance to. "You hate me, I know this. I hate myself, _every day_. I would give anything to go back in time and keep me from going swimming that day to keep your brother from coming after me, but I can't. I am so sorry, Andrea. I can't take back what happened but maybe I can help Lucas. I am asking you to let me try, but if you tell me to go to hell and get out of town, then I will…and I'll never come back again."

Andrea looked at Rebekah with tears in her eyes as she said, "You just went on with your life, Rebekah. You were so close to him that you were like a member of our family, and you – you didn't even go to his funeral."

"My parents wouldn't let me," she explained as she sat on the bench beside her. "They wouldn't let me contact you or your family or anything. When it got to the point in my life where I didn't need their permission…so much time had passed…I didn't think it would make a difference. Because you're right, Andrea, it's because of me that your brother is dead."

Andrea felt a wave of emotion move through her as she took Bex's hands in hers. "I never should have said that. You were in trouble and he jumped in to save you. You would have done the same for him, I know that." She took a deep breath before saying, "Lucas won't talk to me…or anyone. The doctor's say it's a form of post-traumatic stress. You – you saw someone you cared about die in front of your eyes, too. So, if you can help my son…please try."

While this conversation was going on, the brothers stood back and watched, more than ready to step in if necessary but that didn't seem to be the case. Bex and Andrea seemed to be working things out. "How much more stuff do you think we'll find out about her?" Dean enquired, not taking his eyes off Bex.

Sam gave his brother a quick look. "Why do you ask?" he wanted to know.

"I just have a feeling that's there a lot more to her than either of us realize," Dean replied and when Bex went over to talk to Lucas, he and Sam went to talk to Andrea.

Bex sat on the ground on the other side of the bench that Lucas was drawing on and smiled. "Hi, Lucas, I'm Rebekah – a friend of your mom's. You look so much like your uncle, has anyone ever told you that?" She got no response from that. "I know what you're going through, Lucas. I saw something bad, too. Twice. The first time, I almost drowned but your uncle saved me, and the second time…no one would believe me if I told them." Bex smiled softly at him. "If you want to tell me what you saw, I promise you…I will believe you."

Lucas still didn't say anything and continued with his drawing.

Bex followed suite and asked, "Mind if I draw with you?" She pulled some blank paper towards her and picked up a crayon. "I'm far from the best artist in the world, but my sister used to tell me that I had skills." Bex drew a quick doodle of herself and her sister before turning it around to show him. "What do you think? That's me and my sister. I would have drawn my parents but…well, that's a long story." She didn't think she was getting anywhere, so she set the picture down with a smile. "You can keep it. Something to remember the crazy, rambling blonde by." On that note, she got to her feet and went back to the others.

"Any luck?" Andrea asked when she rejoined them.

Bex put her hands on the back of her hips and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I…" She was about to say something else but Lucas came over and handed her a picture he drew of a house. "This is amazing, Lucas. Thank you."

Lucas didn't reply and went back over to his bench and back to what he was doing.

Bex was a little surprised by this and turned to Andrea, saying, "As my shrink would have said – 'That's progress'," as she handed the drawing over to Dean and Sam to show them what it was; a drawing of a house.

When Sam was gone the next day to take care of something, Bex and Dean stayed back at the room. Bex was reading up on things to educate herself as much as possible where supernatural stuff was concerned. Bex was browsing the internet now and asked, "Only humans can get possessed, right?"

"Not necessarily," Dean replied as he was going through his clothes for something clean, only to come to the big conclusion that they all needed to hit the laundromat. "What's going through that head of yours?"

"I'm trying to remember what happened. I keep trying but all I remember is being under the water then being pulled out of it. I can't even remember how I made it back to the shore." Bex sighed heavily then added in like it was nothing, "I'm also thinking about the plot to a movie."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You have to stop comparing this life to horror movies, Bex. More often than not, they're wrong."

"Charmed wasn't," Bex countered with a grin. "You even killed the Wendi-whatever the same way they did on the show."

"Coincidence," Dean replied. "Besides, the Wendigo you described from your show was _nothing_ like the real thing. I think we can agree on that."

Bex waved her hand in a 'whatever' way. "Minor details."

Dean chuckled at that and went back to what he was doing. After a couple moments he said, "So, Bex, tell me something about yourself."

"If that's your idea of a pickup line, you need some new material," Bex replied, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Just making conversation," he retorted with a flirty grin.

Bex turned around to look at him. "You're trying to become my friend. You become my friend it may lead to benefits. Am I right?"

Dean grinned at that. "A guy can dream."

Bex grinned back. "It's probably best if we don't become friends because you wouldn't be able to handle it if we did." She was really teasing him with that comment and turned back to the screen.

Dean couldn't say anything in response to that because Sam came in at that moment and said, "Well, I think we can rule out Nessie. I just drove by the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there – Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" Dean asked.

"Yep," Sam confirmed. "In the sink."

Bex closed the laptop with a "What the hell?" as she did so. "Okay, so…it's not a lake monster thingy…it's something else?"

"Don't know what though," Sam replied, feeling like they were back to square one. Which in a way, they were.

"A water wraith, maybe?" Dean suggested. "Some kind of Demon? Something that controls water." And then it hit him, "Water that comes from the same source."

Sam was right on his thought train. "The Lake – which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is – whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes," Dean added in, "it can get to anyone almost anywhere."

"Seems like it has it out for the Carltons the most," Bex interjected. "It took both his kids."

Sam was thinking the same thing and said so, "I think you're right about that. And I asked around, Lucas' dad, Chris – Bill Carlton's Godson. So was Andrea's brother."

After hearing all this, Dean pulled on his shoes and said, "Let's go pay Mr Carlton a visit."

Bex wanted to go along this time for the questioning but there was something else on her mind that she wanted to do instead. "You guys go on ahead. I have something I need to do." She reached out for her bag on the bed to be met by Dean's hand on her wrist.

"Where are you going?" he wanted to know.

"It's nothing to do with the case," she replied then shot back, "so therefore, none of your business." Bex yanked her hand away and left the motel room.

Dean looked at his brothers questioningly, but Sam just raised his hands with an 'I have no idea' 'pfft' in reply.

* * *

Bex stood outside the Sheriff's station and took a deep breath before going inside. She knew right where she was going, after all she'd been there before. Bex knocked on the office door and walked in hen she was beckoned to. "Hey, Sheriff," she said meekly with a smile.

The Sheriff got to his feet and went right over to her. "It's been too long," he said before pulling her in for a hug.

Bex hugged him before pulling back. "I'm so sorry about everything I…"

He cut her off. "You don't have to explain anything, Rebekah. A lot was lost that day. I admit that it broke my heart to lose you, too. You were like another daughter, and I admit that seeing you here brings that all back. Please try and keep in touch this time around."

Never in a million years would Bex have thought coming back to his place would lift a weight on her shoulders that she'd been carrying around with her for years. Granted, she wished it was under better circumstances than some water monster killing the residents of the town, but she was glad that it happened. "I'll try," was all she managed to say, though. She was feeling so much in that moment that it was all she could get out.

"I won't hold it against you if you don't," he smiled then was called into the other room. "I have to take care of some things, but Rebekah…it was good to see you." He smiled at her again before walking out of his office with her.

Bex let out a deep breath of relief and now that it was out of the way, she was going to head back to the room to meet up with the brothers to see what happened with Mr Carlton.

* * *

Soon after getting back to the Motel, Sam called her cell to let her know that their conversation led them to go talk to Lucas again because of the drawing he did, which was leading them somewhere else. Since there wasn't anything Bex could really do, she said, "Call me if you need me," and left it at that.

Bex decided it would be a good time to take a bath, even though the tub was less than desirable, but she didn't care. Before going in to take a bath she did some more research for things on the computer, tried to find some clean clothes and essentially failed, and practiced cleaning the gun Dean had given her. Now _that_ she didn't fail at. With nothing else the occupy her time in case the brothers called, she decided to finally take the bath.

After filling the tub with hot water, she climbed in and closed her eyes. A smile crept on her face as she thought about the amends she had made with Andrea and the Sheriff. Who knows? Maybe after all this was done, she might come back again and see them.

Bex didn't get very far with these thoughts when suddenly she felt like she was being grabbed by the waist and pulled under. She barely got out a yelp before her head was submerged. Bex waved her arms and flailed as she tried to grab onto the tub and pull herself up. Just when she thought this was it, she felt strong grips on her arms and yank her out of the water.

Bex coughed and gagged and tried to breathe. Dean quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped her up in it, then held her close.

"What happened?" Sam asked, looking as scared as she felt.

"I – I remember," she gasped. "I remember what happened."

* * *

Bex, now dressed in a pair of Dean's boxers and one of Sam's shirts since there wasn't anything else clean, told them what she remembered. Bex went out swimming in the lake and something grabbed hold of her and pulled her down. Flashes entered her mind before she was pulled up by Andrea's brothers. He was the one that swam her to the shore and once she was there, whatever pulled onto Bex grabbed onto him and dragged him all the way into the water. Only he never came out.

"What did you see?" Sam asked, handing her a cup of coffee, but she reached out and took Dean's beer instead.

"A boy…drowning. He – he was being held under water. I could feel his fear – his betrayal." Bex finished off the beer. "He wants revenge and he's not going to stop until he gets it."

"So we were right," Sam said to Dean, "It is Peter's spirit. Guess we're not leaving town after all."

Bex looked between them, slightly confused. "Your turn…what the hell did I miss?"

The brothers proceeded to tell her how Mr Carlton drove his boat out onto the lake and something flipped it over. Once he hit the water, he wasn't seen again. And how the Sherriff told them they had to leave town or else they'd be arrested.

"He's not done…" Bex interjected. "Peter…he's not done. I know it and I think – I _know_ Lucas knows it, too." Bex suddenly felt something horrible. "We have to go…now!" She didn't even bother with putting shoes on and ran like a bat out of hell out the door and into the night.

"What the hell?" Dean asked but ran after her with Sam right on his tail.

Bex ran all the way to the Sheriff's house with the brothers right behind her. Once she ran up the walkway, Lucas flung the door opened and pointed up the stairs with a whimper before he grabbed hold of her and pulled her that way.

They ran up the stairs together as the water flowed down them from the bathroom and once in front of the bathroom door, Bex tried to get in but it was locked. Before she could try ramming it, Dean pulled her aside and kicked it in.

As Bex stood back holding onto Lucas, Dean and Sam rushed in to try and pull Andrea from the tub. They both had to use all their strength, so it seemed, to get her out but finally they did. That made Bex wonder why it was so easy for them to have gotten her out before. Maybe…maybe it was because Peter wanted them to but she had no idea why.

* * *

While Sam was talking to Andrea and Lucas was asleep on the couch in the living room, Bex went down to the basement with Dean, now wearing something borrowed of Andrea's since she was just wearing Sam's tee-shirt and Dean's boxers when she arrived. "They killed him," Bex said to him out of nowhere.

"What are you saying here, Bex?" he asked as he looked through albums.

"I kept having nightmares after the accident," she explained. "Two boys laughing as they held a third boy under the water like it was some sort of game or something. The longer I was away from here the less frequent they became and eventually all the weirdness just stopped. I think it was Mr Carlton and the Sheriff. What if – what if Peter was trying to tell me that after the accident but I ignored it? I – I could have done something."

"There's nothing you could have done," Dean replied. "You didn't know what was going on and you even said your parents kept you away." He turned an album around to show her a picture of Peter, Mr Carlton, and the Sheriff when they were young, "But I think you're right about the two who killed him."

They brought the book upstairs to show Andrea and Sam as Dean explained. "Andrea, your husband's and your brother's deaths weren't connected to Bill Carlton. Their connection was to the Sheriff."

Sam picked up from there, "And that explains why Bex was targeted since she was close to the family. Both Bill and the Sheriff must have been involved with Peter's death."

Bex walked out of the room in then because she felt something weird. Lucas met up with her in the foyer and took her hand before walking out of the house. Everyone followed them out to the spot in the woods nearby the house where Lucas stopped.

"I have no idea," Bex said to them as she stood there, holding Lucas' hand.

Dean said to Andrea, "You and Lucas should get back to the house and stay there, okay?"

Lucas pulled onto Bex's hand for her to go with them, but she thought she should stay with the brothers. "I need to stay here," she tried to explain to him but he wasn't listening and whimpered as he pulled onto her.

"It's okay," Sam said to her, "we got this."

Bex nodded in an 'okay' manner and went back to the house with Andrea and Lucas.

* * *

Andrea was about to make some tea but froze at the kitchen sink. "Maybe that's not the best idea."

"If caffeine is what you're after, I vote for cola," Bex half joked in reply.

Andrea looked out the window and saw her father with a gun aimed at Sam and Dean. She didn't want Lucas seeing this, so she said, "Bex, would you mind checking on Lucas?"

"No problem," she replied and went up to Lucas' room to see him only she found that he wasn't there. "Lucas?" she called out, and checked all the rooms upstairs but he wasn't there. It wasn't until she looked out the window in the master bedroom that faced the lake that she saw Lucas on the dock. "No!" she cried out and ran like hell to get to him.

As Bex ran, she saw Lucas get pulled into the water and screamed, "Lucas!" getting the attention of the others. Without even thinking about herself, Bex dove into the water. She found Lucas before he was dragged too far and with all her might she pulled him out of Peter's grasp and practically threw him onto the dock.

Bex tried to get out herself but let out a brief scream as she was pulled into the water's depths.

Dean, Sam, and the others heard Bex's cries and ran down to the lake just as she was pulled under. Andrea ran to her son as Sam and Dean dove into the water to try and find her.

The Sheriff walked into the water as he sobbed, "Peter…I'm so sorry. Please…please don't take her. You already took my son. Rebekah's like my daughter. I just got her back…please don't take her, too. She doesn't deserve this. I'm so sorry, Peter. Please, this is my fault. Just let it be over!"

Once he said those words, Peter's ghost swam up to him and pulled the Sherriff into the water's depths, finally getting the revenge he wanted so his spirit could finally be at peace.

The brothers submerged themselves again and again to try and find Bex. Sam was the first to come up and shouted, "BEX!" but there was nothing. He couldn't find her and it was killing him.

Lucas held onto his mother tight as he pointed out to the water. A moment later, Dean shot out of it with Bex – both of them gasping for air.

Dean held her tight and said only loud enough so she could hear, "Don't you ever scare me like that again." But whether or not she actually heard him, he had no idea.

* * *

After their goodbyes to Andrea and Lucas who was now talking – who Bex no longer felt a 'supernatural link' with – they got ready to hit the road. After going to the much-needed laundromat, that is. Bex leaned against the trunk of the Impala as she waited for the brothers. There was something she needed to say and they needed to hear it, whether or not it was selfish of her to say.

Dean looked at Sam in question before asking what was on her mind. "What's going on, Bex?"

"You're not blaming yourself for what happened, are you?" Sam had a feeling that this is what it was all about.

"Father and son both die saving me? Yeah, I kinda feel like it's my fault," she honestly replied but that wasn't all. Bex walked away from the car, towards them, and crossed her arms. "I'm only going to say this once and then we're not going to discuss it again, are we clear?"

The brothers looked at each other in silent conversation and then agreed. "Okay."

Bex took a deep breath, as if she was gathering up the strength to say it. "Please…don't leave me. Everyone leaves me. I…I don't think I could take it if you guys did, too."

Before the brothers could react to that, Bex had turned around and got into the backseat of the car. "Are we going to talk about that or…" Dean started to say but Sam cut him off by saying, "We agreed that we wouldn't."

Dean couldn't exactly argue with that but he had to say, "But…what does it mean exactly?"

Sam answered with the first thing that came to his mind – something the he already felt even if it did just apply to himself, "She's _our_ responsibility now."

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 3


	4. Fashion Montage!

_Ever since what happened in Lake Manitoc, Bex has wanted to be all Hunter all the time. She kept asking the brothers questions about what was fact and what was myth, kicked up her training as much as the brothers would help her with, and pretty much tried to cram in everything she could as quickly as she could. Even Dean didn't think this was healthy for her to do but she wouldn't listen to either brother about it. Bex had lost so much in such a short amount of time, and this was how she chose to deal with it._

Bex was pretty much passed out in the motel room because she worked out to exhaustion the night before. She didn't know what time it was when she heard a sound coming into the room, but it was heard and she reacted to it. Feeling wide awake now, perhaps from the adrenaline that was now coursing through her veins, she pulled a gun from under her pillow and whipped around to the source of the sound; Sam.

Sam had coffee and donuts in his hands as he stood there just looking at her with an amused grin. "Morning, sunshine."

"What the hell, Sam!" She shouted as she set the gun aside. "I could have shot you!"

"Glad you didn't," he replied, setting the things down on the nearby table. "A bullet would be harder for me to dodge than your fist."

"If you're trying to be funny, you're not," she shot back before falling onto her pillow once again – this time pulling the pillow from under her head and pressing it onto her face.

From the other bed Dean groaned, "Will you two shut up?" And after a moment he asked, "What time is it?"

"About 5:45," Sam replied, handing him a cup of coffee.

Bex pulled the pillow off her face and instantly shot up into a sitting position. "In the morning?!"

Sam handed her a cup of coffee as well as a donut. "Yep."

Bex looked at him like he was a madman. "Did you even sleep?"

"I grabbed a couple of hours," Sam answered, drinking his own coffee.

"Liar," Dean chimed in as he started to get out of bed. "Because I was up at three and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial."

"No wonder why I was having dreams about being eaten on an electric grill," Bex thought aloud before taking a bite from the donut.

Dean could have made a joke there but decided not to in order to ask his brother, "When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

"Oh, I don't know. A little while, I guess. It's not a big deal." Sam was acting like it was nothing and turned the topic off him. "Glad to see you're sleeping better, Bex."

"Not like she has a choice," Dean spoke for her, "she's training herself to exhaustion."

Bex was about to shoot out something snarky but she couldn't really argue with what he said so she simply shrugged her shoulders and went back to breakfast. "Take it from me, Sam, you really should try and get some sleep."

Dean gestured to Bex with the hand that held his coffee. "I'm with her."

"Thanks for your concern," Sam replied, planning on leaving it at that.

"It's not concern," Dean corrected. "It's your job to keep my ass alive while I keep her ass alive, so I need you sharp."

"This ass doesn't need either of your asses to keep her alive," Bex interjected. "I'm not your responsibility."

"Yes, you are," the brothers answered in almost unison.

Bex rolled her eyes and muttered, "It's too early for this." She put her coffee on the nightstand and got off the bed with a stretch. "I call first dibs on the shower."

Dean watched her as she did this and as she headed for the bathroom, only to be blocked by Sam who stood in his line of sight. "Haven't we already had this discussion?" Sam asked his brother.

"I'm just looking, Sammy, you can't blame a guy for that," Dean replied then got serious. "Are you still having nightmares about Jess?"

Bex, who was listening at the door with a grin, stopped as soon as Jess' name came up. She went to the sink and turned on the faucet to splash some water in her face. Bex had been having nightmares, too, more often than she'd care to admit. It didn't help that each time it was a different scenario featuring a different creature or cause of death. One thing always stayed the same, though – she was never able to save her sister.

After turning off the sink, Bex took a quick shower and had just gotten out with a towel wrapped around her when Dean opened the door with a hand over his eyes. "Get dressed," he said. "We have a case."

"I'll be right out," she replied then pushed Dean out the door with little half smirk because he spread apart his fingers to get a look at her in the towel.

Bex pointed at him in a 'that's naughty' way as she closed the door behind him.

* * *

Bex leaned against the Impala with crossed arms as Dean worked the gas pump while Sam was inside getting snacks and such. "So you and your dad worked a Poltergeist case for this guy before?"

"That's right," Dean answered, his eyes on the increasing price on the pump.

Bex's questions didn't stop there. "Did the movie portray it right? I mean, how many different variations of a Poltergeist can there be? Did it…" She wasn't able to finish her question because Dean did something completely unexpected. Without warning, he went right over to Bex and kissed her in a most satisfying and breathtaking way. When Dean broke the kiss to speak, she almost didn't catch what he had said because her brain felt like it had to reboot in order to process what had happened.

Dean, acting like nothing had just happened between them, said, "New rule – The only questions allowed are the ones about the case we're on. Anything else will be answered like that." He gave her a little look then.

Bex's mouth gaped open a little before an impish grin spread across her face. "What about Vampires? They don't _really_ sparkle, right?"

Dean licked his lip as he grinned at her but wasn't able to react beyond that because Sam had joined them.

Sam felt like he had just interrupted something so he asked, "What did I miss?" as he put the paper bag through the window in the backseat.

"Just me asking questions and Dean answering them," Bex answered with a wink before getting into the car.

Sam's brow furrowed because had a feeling that there was something more than to it but Dean didn't say a word and turned off the gas pump before going around to the driver's side. "You coming or not?" Dean asked from the driver's seat, through the passenger window.

Sam got into the car with a sigh, figuring he'd find out what was really going on sooner or later.

* * *

Jerry, the guy from the airport who called Dean for his help, was glad to see Dean and meet Sam but he wasn't too sure about Bex being there. He wasn't about to go into details with some rookie in the group. "This is a big problem, boys. I'm sorry but I'm not going to have a novice's life on my conscience."

"She may be new to this but she's good. You have our word on that," Dean replied in Bex's defense. Besides, how else was she going to learn if she wasn't involved.

"If this thing is as bad as Jerry says it is then why are we wasting time discussing me? I'll wait outside, no big deal." Bex shook hands with Jerry as she said, "Nice to meet you," before walking away.

While Sam went off with Jerry, Dean quickly went over to Bex saying, "Why did you give in so easily?"

"This guy clearly isn't going to talk to me. Besides, it's not like you and Sam can't fill me in later." She smacked Dean's ass then, saying, "Now get going before you miss something good."

Dean chuckled at her with a mild shake to his head before catching up with Sam and Jerry.

"I wonder if Jerry's best friend is Tom," Bex lamely joked to herself before going outside, leaving the brothers to do their thing.

* * *

While Bex was waiting in the Impala she logged onto the nearest open WIFI and started checking into her adoption. Since she was left on the Moore's doorstep there was no trace of her bio-parents except for one thing – the necklace. Bex decided to do a search for that and see if anything came of it.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the webpage finally loaded and Bex read it aloud with a 'no way' tone to her voice. "The sign of the pentagram within the sun is a symbol to ward off Demonic possession. The wearer of this symbol will be protected from Demons according to most folklore." Something clicked in Bex's head then but she couldn't believe it. "No…no it _has_ to be a coincidence. There's no way they could have known what this symbol means unless…" Bex couldn't even bring herself to think aloud 'unless they were Hunters, too'.

Bex couldn't ponder over this for much longer because the brothers were approaching, so she quickly cleared her browser history and put the laptop away. There was no way she was going to discuss this with them. She was nowhere near ready for that yet – especially since she wasn't even sure about the significance of what she found, so when the brothers reached the car she asked, "Well, are we in hinky territory or is it just a technical failure?"

"Definitely hinky," Dean answered, getting into the car with Sam.

"Okay, so what's the next step?" Bex asked, leaning onto the backs of their seats and looking between them.

"Gain access to the wreckage." Dean turned around to face her better and smiled a bit, "We're gonna have to take your picture."

A wide smile spread across her face in that moment. "This is gonna be fun, isn't it?"

Dean just grinned while Sam sighed deeply in reply.

* * *

Bex stood near Dean in the photo shop while he made the Homeland Security IDs. "Hate to break it to you, but no one's gonna believe these."

"Hey," Dean sounded offended. "Those are some of my best work."

"I wasn't talking about the IDs," Bex explained. "Unless you're planning on investing in a suit, you don't pass as anything official." She walked up close to him with a little impish grin on her face once again. "Think of it like roleplaying – without the costumes, it lacks in the effect."

Dean was about to say something to that but she walked out of the shop before he had a chance. He really wanted to say what was on his mind, but damn he really didn't mind watching her walk away.

He finished up soon after that and went outside to join Bex and Sam at the Impala.

"You've been in there forever," Sam pointed out as took the IDs from Dean as his brother said, "You can't rush perfection."

"Homeland Security?" Sam scoffed mildly. "That's pretty illegal, even for us."

"Well, you know, it's something new – people haven't seen in a thousand times," Dean answered as he walked around and entered the car. "Bex brought up a good point though. If we're gonna pull this off, we gonna have to look the part."

Bex leaned forward in the front seat, saying in a silly voice "Fashion montage!"

Sam rolled his eyes at her and opened up the laptop, getting down to business. "There's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder. Listen." He clicked a button and after some static there was an eerie voice saying, " _No survivors"._

Dean's brow furrowed in question. "No survivors?"

"Didn't you say seven people survived the crash?" Bex interjected, not understanding what the creepy ghost voice meant. "So why did it say 'no survivors'?"

"Got me," Sam replied, not having an answer for her.

"So what are you thinking?" Dean asked his brother. "Haunted flight?"

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phamton travelers," Sam replied. "Or – remember flight 401?"

"What's flight 401?" Bex asked, looking between the brothers.

Dean answered that. "A plane that crashed. The airline salvaged its parts and put it in other planes. The spirit of the pilot and co-pilot haunted those flights."

"That's unnerving," Bex replied then asked, "You think it's something like that going on here?"

Dean shrugged. "Could be. But now, survivors. Who are we talking to first?"

Sam looked at Bex for her to answer that since it's what they were discussing before Dean came out of the shop. Bex took the cue and leaned forward, tapping the paper in Dean's hand. "Max Jaffey – he's from around here, and if anyone saw anything weird, he did."

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked, looking at her.

Bex answered simply enough, "Because his current address is the Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital."

Dean looked a bit impressed that she knew that. "Max Jaffey it is."

* * *

After gaining entrance to the Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital and permitted visitation with Max Jaffey, Bex stopped the brothers before they headed out into the yard to meet him. "I'm taking the lead on questioning him."

Neither brother seemed to like the idea very much, but it was Sam who spoke it aloud. "Bex, no offense, but you don't know what you're doing."

"How am I going to learn if you don't let me do anything?" Bex countered. "I'm not saying you guys can't be there, I'm saying just let me ask the questions. Okay?"

Dean still didn't like the idea because he was worried a key detail would be missed because Bex wouldn't know _exactly_ what to ask and look for, but if he and Sam were present then it might be alright. "Someone's wearing her big-girl pants today," he teased.

"Always," Bex answered firmly then led the way over to where they were directed towards Max Jaffey.

Max was sitting at a table alone when Bex approached and showed him her Homeland badge. "Max Jaffey? I'm Agent Eames and these are Agents McCoy and Goren from Homeland Security. Would it be alright if we asked you some questions?"

Max looked a little confused as Bex sat in the chair near him and the others followed suite. "I don't understand, I already spoke to Homeland Security."

Bex answered before either brother could. "In light of some new evidence we need to ask some follow-up questions. Is that alright with you?"

Max looked at the three of them saying, "You look young to be Agents."

"Junior Agents, I should say," Bex, once again, instantly answered. "The big-boys asked the main questions and we're here for the follow-up to get our feet wet when it comes to questioning witnesses."

Sam and Dean exchanged an impressed look with each other because Bex seemed to have an answer for everything and was actually pretty good at this.

When Max nodded, indicating that it was okay for her to ask them, Bex said, "Right before the plane went down, did you notice anything unusual? Strange sounds, weird light shows, voices, perhaps? Anything like that?"

Max averted her eyes when he answered with, "No."

Bex could see that Dean wanted to jump in there so she quickly cut him off before he had the chance. "Mr Jaffey, you checked yourself in here, correct? I understand that being in a plane crash can be a traumatizing experience but that wasn't why…was it? What did you see up there? We need to know."

Max shook his head. "No, no. I didn't see anything I was delusional – seeing things – and…"

Bex didn't want to lose him to the brothers questioning so she said, "I thought I was delusion – seeing things – when I saw my sister go up in flames, but it was real. _How_ it happened was real. There's nothing you can say that would make me not believe you."

She ignored the looks the brothers gave each other and said in a more gentler tone, "What did you see, Mr Jaffey? Or if you prefer…what do you _think_ you saw?"

Max took a deep breath as he looked at her and answered, "There was this…this man. And, uh, he had these…eyes," he waved around his own eyes as he said this, "these…pitch black eyes. And I saw him – I _thought_ I saw him…"

Bex put a comforting hand on his on the table. "It's okay," she urged him. "You can tell me."

Max answered then with conviction. "He opened the Emergency Exit. But that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's like two tons of pressure on that door."

Bex was smart enough to know when to hand over the reins, so that's what she did at that moment and turned to the brothers for their input.

Sam saw the look and asked Max, "This man – did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage."

Max laughed at him. "What are you, nuts? He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me."

* * *

With all the information they could get from Max, they headed to the address of George Phelps, seat 20C. On the way to his address, Dean said to Bex who sat in the back, "That wasn't bad for your first interview. Where'd you learn to ask questions like that?"

"I'm guessing you didn't get the Agent name references?" Bex asked with an amused tone to her face. Upon seeing that neither brother did she answered that and Dean's own question, "Law and Order."

Dean and Sam shared a 'whatever works' expression with each other then pulled up for George Phelp's house with Sam saying, "Here we are."

As they all got out of the car Bex asked, "So what was this guy if he could open the plane's emergency door? There's no way a human could do that, right?"

"Some kind of creature, maybe?" Sam suggested. "One with a human form."

"Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" Dean asked, gesturing towards the house that looked like it belonged on the front of a Home and Garden magazine.

"Let's do this," Bex said a little too enthusiastically and at the questioning looks the brothers had given her she said, "What? I'm on a roll." Bex made a playful jumping-dance motion as he rolled her hands around.

Both Sam and Dean looked at her like she was insane before getting serious as they led the way to the front door and awaited an answer.

* * *

Unlike before, Bex let the brothers take the lead on the questioning. The last thing she wanted to do was upset a widow so unless she thought to ask something they hadn't covered that might be safe territory – if there was such a thing – she was going to keep quiet and listen.

Sam picked up a photograph from the coffee table and looked at it, asking, "This is your late husband?"

"Yes, that was my George," Mrs Phelps replied with an affirmative nod.

"And you said he was a dentist?" Dean asked next, trying to get a sense of things.

Mrs Phelps nodded again. "Mhm. He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that…"

Bex leaned forward in interest when Mrs Phelps mentioned that her husband was petrified to fly. Maybe it meant nothing but then again, it could mean something. Either way, she was going make note of it to revisit later if needed.

Bex intended to keep quiet but in a pause of the brother's questioning, she asked Mrs Phelps, "How long were you married?" She had a reason for that question and when the brother's shot her questioning glances, she ignored them and listened to Mrs Phelps' answer.

Mrs Phelps smiled at the memories. "Thirteen years."

Bex moved forward in her seat a little and leaned forward a little as she said, "Thirteen years? That's a long time. So…in any of that time did you notice anything weird about him – out of the ordinary?"

Mrs Phelps thought for a moment. "Well…he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean."

Bex kinda shared a bit of a raised brow look with the brothers because this just wasn't getting them anywhere.

* * *

With the questioning over, Bex walked out of Mrs Phelps' house with the brothers while Sam spoke to her and Dean.

"It goes without saying. It doesn't make any sense." Sam looked between them to see if they disagreed and didn't.

"A dentist with an ulcer isn't exactly evil personified," Dean replied, walking back to the Impala.

"So, we're back to the crash, right?" Bex asked, leaning back against the car with crossed arms.

"That's right," Dean confirmed. "We need to get into that NTSB warehouse and check out that wreckage."

Bex's face brightened up as she moved to stand between the brothers, placing her hands on their shoulders. "You know what that means?" she gasped then exclaimed in a silly sing-songy voice, "Fashion Montage!"

* * *

A fashion montage was far off the mark, but the brothers and Bex had to get the appropriate attire. Bex kept thinking they all looked like some weird Blues Brothers reboot but kept the joke to herself. With the way Dean was fidgeting with his suit every two seconds, it was clear he hated the thing. Honestly, Bex hated hers too – right along with the heels the saleslady convinced her to buy since her combat boots would not fly with the pantsuit.

The change of attire, along with the IDs, did the trick. They showed their 'credentials' to the security guard and gained access to the plane's wreckage at the warehouse.

On the floor was an outline of the kind of airplane that crashed. All the chunks from the wreck were placed in their appropriate places upon the outline. Bex shuddered a bit because she felt the same way walking through here that she did in a cemetery – eerie.

Bex noticed Dean pulled something out of his pocket and stuck an earbud in his ear. It looked like a weird Walkman and that made her curious. "What's that?"

"It's an E.M.F. meter," Dean replied, turning it on. "It reads electromagnetic frequencies."

"You disguised it as a broken Walkman?" Bex asked curiously.

"Nope," Dean said with pride as he showed it to her, "the Walkman is what I made it out of. It's homemade."

"Clearly," Sam said with a bit of sarcasm and that received a backhand from Bex in reply.

The E.M.F. reader went into the red zone around the emergency door handle where there was some odd residue. "Do I want to know what that is?" Bex asked with a bit of an unnerved expression on her face. Monsters she could deal with – more or less – but mystery substances were another story.

"We don't even know what it is," Dean answered as he wiped his hand off on Sam's jacket.

"Only one way to find out." Sam pulled a pocket knife and baggie from his pocket and scraped some of the mystery substance off the handle.

"Okay, so…that's it, right?" Bex asked, looking between them. "Because I have a feeling we're pushing our luck here."

Dean happened to agree. "Yeah, let's go."

Bex pulled off her heels – in case they had to start running – and followed the brothers out the back door of the warehouse. So far things were smooth sailing so they snuck around the building and checked to make sure the coast was clear. Now all they had to do now was get beyond the fence and things were all good. Of course the alarm just happened to blare at that moment.

The trio booked it to the fence. Dean took off his jacket and threw it on top of the barbed wire before climbing up. Bex tossed her shoes over and climbed over the fence, taking Dean's jacket with her. She tossed it to him and picked up her shoes before taking off towards the car.

Dean chuckled at this turn of events and said, "What do you know, these monkey suits are good for something."

* * *

Since Jerry didn't want Bex involved in this case, she went back to the motel room while the brothers went to go talk to him. She could have used this time to look more into the pendant and stuff but there was a part of her that didn't want to know so she didn't pursue it.

It wasn't long before Dean and Sam came back and told her the substance was sulfur and not many creatures left behind that kind of residue. Therefore, the theory was Demonic possession.

Sam was working on the computer while Bex hit the books with Dean. "So…a demon possessed the guy to take down an entire plane? Is that what their typical M.O. is?" While she asked this question, she subconsciously toyed with the Anti-Possession pendant around her neck.

"In the Japanese Lore there are certain Demons that are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another disease," Sam replied as he gestured to his computer.

"And this one causes plane crashes?" Dean questioned, trying to make sense of this. "Alright, so, what, we've got a Demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"

"That's unnerving," Bex said to herself as still subconsciously toyed with the Pendant.

Sam noticed this and asked, "What's that?"

Bex, realizing what she was doing, returned it to beneath her shirt. "Nothing." She moved off the bed and got back on track. "So, this Demon, it's likely it's caused more crashes in the past?"

Sam didn't have an answer for that. "Who knows."

Bex nodded in an 'okay then' manner before saying, "I need some air." She walked out of the motel room but didn't go far. Bex leaned against the wall next to the door and slid down to the ground, propping her arms on her knees. There was just something about this case that was getting to her. It wasn't the plane aspect of it, she was never bothered by flying, it was the Demon part. The whole Demon thing made her think back to the Pendant and what she learned about it and that led to her wondering if it was a coincidence or not that she ended up on this path of her life. If her birth parents were Hunters then maybe this was her destiny…whether she wanted it or not.

Bex was pulled from her thoughts when Sam and Dean came out of the motel room. "What happened?"

"Another plane crash," Dean answered, holding out a hand to help her to her feet.

Bex accepted the help and stood. "Where are we going?"

Dean held her hand for a moment longer than necessary as he answered her. "Nazareth."

* * *

The trio went to the wreckage in Nazareth and returned to Jerry with another substance believed to be sulfur. Standing in Jerry's office with him checking to be sure, he said to the brothers, "I thought I said I didn't want a rookie to be a part of this."

"Novice," Bex corrected and when Jerry turned to her, she elaborated. "You said novice before, not rookie. And this novice can make the connection that there were two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert, at least a half a dozen crashes – these recent ones included – all went down 40 minutes in flight, and the spooky message said no survivors. But there were survivors this time so that leads me to believe that this thing is trying to finish the job."

Bex looked between Sam and Dean, waiting to hear what they had to say. "Any objections? Corrections?" When the brothers shook their heads, she turned to Jerry and stared him down a bit. "So, do you still want this novice off the case?"

Jerry cleared his throat and that was the best Bex was going to get as a response out of him.

When they left Jerry's office soon after, Sam asked, "Where did all that come from?"

"I pay attention," Bex replied without looking at him. "With all the bits and pieces getting put together and with what you said about the other crashes, it was the only thing that made sense."

Dean chuckled once they reached the Impala and proceeded to get inside. "You're actually starting to be good at this."

"Must be in my blood," Bex muttered and when Sam asked, "What was that?", she said, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

The brothers shared a look at that but there wasn't time to question her, not when they had to track down the rest of the survivors. But it was definitely something they planned on revisiting later.

* * *

Sam and Bex split up the list of survivors to call and survey them – posing as employees from the airline – to see if they intended on flying any time soon. None of them intended to any time soon but that wasn't the case for the flight attendant Amanda; According to her sister, she was going back to work that night for an eight o'clock flight out of Indianapolis. That was about a five-hour drive from their current location. It was a worrisome thing to think they wouldn't be able to stop the disaster. When Bex voiced this worry Dean assured her they'd get there on time as he – more or less – put the pedal to the metal.

They were really cutting it down to the wire when they finally arrived at the airport. The three of them ran inside and straight to the 'Arrivals and Departures' listings. "Right there," Sam pointed to the screen at Amanda's flight, "they're boarding in thirty minutes."

"Still can't believe we got here." Bex rubbed her forehead a bit as she added in, "And that I didn't throw up."

Dean didn't respond to that and just kept his mind on the case. "Okay. We still have some cards to play."

"Which are?" Bex asked, wanting to be on board and all that.

"We need to find a phone," Dean answered and went off to one of the airline's courtesy phones.

"You're going to call her." That was definitely more of a statement than a question on her part, but she had another idea in mind. While the brothers were trying to keep Amanda off the plane, Bex stood in line to buy three tickets for it. After her last pool hustle – the one the brother's _didn't_ know about – she had enough on her to cover the tickets. Granted she was going to use that money for something else but figured it was worth it since it was going towards saving peoples live and all.

With the purchased tickets in hand, Bex held them behind her back as she walked over to the brothers. "Any luck?"

"No," Dean said in frustration. "We need a new plan."

"We can figure it out on the plane," Bex answered as she fanned out the tickets in front of them. "I present to you the beginning of a Plan B."

Sam chuckled, impressed with her thought process. "That's brilliant actually."

Dean, on the other hand, didn't like the idea one bit. "Now, just hold on a second."

"Dean, there are a over a hundred people on that plane and if we're right…" Sam hushed his tone there, "it's going to crash. Bex already has the tickets so we'll get on that plane, find the Demon, and Exorcise it. Now, come on, let's get what we can from the car that will make it through security."

Bex saw an expression on Dean's face that she hadn't seen so far as she could remember. It kinda resembled…fear. "Dean, are you okay?"

Dean swallowed a lump in his throat before answering, "No, not really. I, um, I kinda have this problem with…" he couldn't even say it and just 'whooshed' his hand around in front of him.

Sam attempted to finish his sentence for him, even though he couldn't believe it. "Flying?"

"It's never really been an issue until now!" Dean was definitely freaking out at the possibility of getting on that plane.

"You're joking, right?" Sam, more than before, couldn't believe what Dean was saying.

Bex saw the fear in Dean's eyes and she, for one, believed him. "I don't think he's joking."

"Why do you think I drive everywhere?" Dean thought that would get his point across, that was until Bex pointed out something else.

"Because your Hunting arsenal wouldn't make it through security?" Bex figured that was the reason for the 'road trips'.

Dean opened his mouth for some sort of retort but she had a point there and couldn't really punch a hole in her theory at that moment.

Sam was finally believing him. "Okay. It's fine. You can stay here, Bex and I will go."

"What?" Dean exclaimed. "Are you nuts? You said it yourself the plane's gonna crash."

Bex knew they were running out of time so she cut in there, saying, "Dean, I'm going on that plane with or without you. So you can either come with us or stay here because there's really not a third option."

"I have one." Sam snatched the tickets out of Bex's hand. "Dean and I go up and you stay here."

Bex scoffed incredulously as he walked off with her ticket. "You've got to be kidding me!" She almost ran right into Sam when he stopped and turned around to face her.

"No, I'm not. This is a Demonic possession with a limited time frame, not a learning opportunity for you. If we survive, we'll tell you all about it." Sam tapped the tickets in his hand and went off again.

Dean pointed towards Sam as he said, "I agree with him on this one." He then went after his brother, saying, "You were kidding about the _if_ we survive part, right?"

Bex, stunned and a loss for words, just stood there for a moment before scoffing incredulously and storming out of the airport. If she had enough money she would have bought another ticket to get on that plane, but that wasn't in the cards for her so she was fuming.

* * *

When the brothers safely returned to the airport and the Impala, Bex was there waiting for them with crossed arms and a hardened expression. "See you survived."

"It was a pretty close one there but…" Dean was cut off when Bex punched both him and Sam simultaneously in the stomach. "Did we deserve that?" he groaned with a cough.

"Yes!" Bex shouted at them both. "I'm in this, boys. Okay? I am in this and I am learning. Stop thinking of me as someone who needs their ass saved and start thinking of me as someone who could save yours. If neither of you can do that then I'm done with you and will figure this out on my own. Are we clear?"

Dean and Sam shared a look before Sam said, "Yeah," and Dean added in, "Crystal."

"Good." Bex swiped the Impala keys from Dean and went around to the driver's side. "For ditching me, I'm driving."

Dean scoffed, "Like hell," but stopped from trying to get the keys back when she turned around and looked at him like she was about to kill him.

"For ditching me," Bex repeated with fierce emphasis, "I'm driving."

Dean had never been so simultaneously intimidated and turned on in his entire life so he gave in. "Deal."

Bex opened the driver's door with satisfaction and pulled a pair of sunglasses off her head and put them on before getting into the car. "Damn straight."

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 4


	5. I'm Buffy

**A/N: TRIGGER WARNING – MENTIONS OF SUICIDE**

* * *

Bex was asleep on the motel room's bed while the brothers were getting the stuff together for the next case. Once they hit the road they'd be on their way to Toledo, Ohio. But in that moment, Bex's mind was back at Stanford in Jess' apartment. Her dream started out with flashes of the good times she had with her sister – the smiles and the laughter – then suddenly it would shift to the horror and the screams when Bex saw her sister pinned to the ceiling on fire.

She tried to save Jess in her dream but couldn't get close due to the flames. When she tried again a voice screamed out, "You're next!", which made Bex scream in her sleep. This caused the brothers to run back into the motel room with their guns raised but only found Bex having a nightmare.

Sam quickly went to Bex's side to wake her up and when she did, she awoke with a jolt and scrambled back into the headboard because it took her a moment or two to realize she was awake now.

"Rebekah, hey, it's me. It's okay," Sam said softly to her. "You're okay."

Bex's breathing was hard as her heart pounded in her chest. When she finally found her voice she said, "I tried to save her. I…"

Sam hugged Bex when she trailed off and placed his hand on the back of her head in a comforting manner. "I know. I know."

Dean gave them a moment before he cleared his throat. "We should hit the road."

Bex nodded, knowing he was right, and climbed off the bed to get the rest of her things out to the car.

Dean stopped Sam before they followed to say, "Between you and her, I'm not sure who's nightmares are worse. Sooner or later we're all gonna have to talk about this, you know that right?"

Sam didn't want to talk about it and doubted that Bex would either. Even so, for his brother's sake, he said, "I know," then met up with Bex at the Impala.

Dean let out a heavy breath but there was nothing he could do about it then so he simply closed the motel door behind him.

* * *

On the way to Toledo, Bex was quiet. Sam was asleep in the back seat while Bex sat in the front next to Dean. Since Dean was focused on driving, Bex took the time to work on her own Hunting Journal. A few towns back she went into a bookstore and bought a leather-bound journal with a matching cord to close it up. She figured that since she was going to be Hunting, she might as well have a log book of her own experiences. Bex didn't plan on parting from the Winchesters any time soon, but if she did then at least she'd have some sort of guide.

Bex was pulled from her writing when Dean asked, "Writing about me?" He shot her a smirk before returning his eyes back to the road.

"Not exactly," Bex answered, finishing the last sentence as she did. "I'm keeping a Hunting Journal, if you must know."

"Everything we need to know is in my dad's Journal," Dean retorted. "Why would you need one?" He gave her a bit of a questioning look there. "You're not planning on ditching us, are you?"

"I have a lot more to learn before I'd even consider that," Bex replied with a grin, half teasing him a bit.

Dean scoffed with playful dramatics, "I feel so used." After they got a chuckle out of that he got a bit serious, "I want you to know something, Bex. If this Hunting stuff ever gets to be too much for you, or if you just want out before we find the Demon, you tell me, alright? This doesn't have to be your life."

"I know. But for the record, I'm not doing anything I don't want to be doing," Bex countered. "I want to find the monster that murdered my sister and I want to kill it ten times over. This isn't the life I wanted, Dean, but it's the one I got so I'm damn well going to live it."

Dean didn't have anything to say after that, so he merely replied with, "Okay," and left it at that.

A part of Bex felt like she should crack some sort of witty joke there to lighten the air between them but her mind went blank so she just went back to writing, counting down the miles to their destination.

* * *

Sam was still sleeping when they finally arrived in Toledo, so Bex made a quick stop at a convenience store down the street from where Dean parked. By the time she got back with chips and soda, Sam was awake and now in the front seat of the car. "Thief," she joked as she climbed into the back with the stuff.

"You shouldn't have left the car," Sam grinned then pulled out the obituaries article that led them to Ohio in the first place. Mr Shoemaker's death was mysterious to say the least so it was worth looking into.

"Take your muffin and shut up," Bex shot back as she threw the baked good at him. Dean was driving the couple miles down the road to the Morgue at this point. "So, what do we think happened to Shoemaker?" Bex asked as she opened her bottle of pop.

Dean pulled into a parking spot in front of the building as he said, "That's what we're going to find out."

"Let's go, Scoobies." Bex grabbed her bag and got out of the car, leading the way inside the building.

"Does that make you Daphne or Velma?" Dean asked as they walked up the stairs.

"Are you kidding?" Bex laughed as she opened the door, "I'm Buffy."

It took the brothers a second to figure out which Scooby Gang Bex was referring to but didn't pursue the conversation any further because the Morgue was right down the hall.

Bex let Dean take the lead by telling the orderly that they were Med Students from Ohio State and needed to see the Shoemaker body for a paper, but Dean wasn't getting anywhere and was clearly getting frustrated. This is when Bex jumped in.

Bex squeezed her way between the brothers and leaned on the orderly's desk just enough to give him a little 'peek-a-boo'. In a very alluring way she smiled and said, "Are you sure there isn't any way you could help us out? It would mean the world to me."

The orderly chuckled a bit and leaned forward as well, grinning. "Give me your phone number and we've got a deal."

Bex reached out and pulled a pen from his pocket before writing a number down on the palm of his hand.

The orderly, pleased with this, got up from his chair and said to the trio, "Follow me."

Sam followed the guy right off but Dean hung back with Bex long enough to incredulously say, "I can't believe you gave him your phone number."

"I didn't," Bex answered honestly then impishly beamed, "I gave him yours." Actually, she wrote a bunch of random numbers, but she wasn't about to ruin the fun by telling Dean that.

Dean shook his head with a scoff and waved a finger at her, saying, "You're going to get it."

"Oooo," she mocked, "I'm so scared." Bex chuckled then got serious as they caught up with Sam and the Orderly at the covered Mr Shoemaker's body.

Sam was speaking to the Orderly at that time. "The newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding."

"More than that. They practically liquified," the Orderly replied as he pulled back the sheet covering the body."

"Bloody hell," Bex grimaced a bit as she looked at all the blood pooled in Shoemaker's eye sockets. It was not a pretty picture to say the very least. "No pun intended."

"Any sign of a struggle that somebody did this to him?" Dean asked, getting a look at Shoemaker's face while he was at it.

"Nope," the Orderly replied. "Besides the daughter, he was all alone."

"So…what's the official cause of death here?" Bex asked, waving her finger around Shoemaker's head.

The Orderly shrugged mildly. "The Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm. Something burst up in there, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, wanting some clarification on that.

"Intense cerebral bleeding," the Orderly answered like it was pretty damn cool. "This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."

"But the eyes," Sam questioned, "what would cause something like that?"

"Capillaries can burst," the Orderly explained. "See a lot of bloodshot eyes in stroke victims."

"There's a difference between bloodshot eyes and exploding eyes there, buddy," Bex retorted, looking down at the body again.

The Orderly gave her that. "True. And I admit this is my first time seeing something like this, but hey, I'm not the doctor."

"Think we could take a look at the police report?" Dean asked then added in, "You know, for our paper?"

"I'm not really supposed to show you that," the Orderly replied, looking at Bex with a grin.

Bex was about to put her flirt game back on but both Sam and Dean shot out their hands to stop her then Sam reached into his wallet and pulled out a bunch of twenties to bribe the guy.

The Orderly was hoping for something different but hey, cash would do.

* * *

Once they got a look at the report, they went on their way and discussed as they went. "This might not be one of ours," Sam thought aloud. "You know, it could just be some sort of freak accident."

Dean didn't think that was the case. "How many times in dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?"

"Uh, almost never," Sam admitted and got the point Dean was trying to make. "Alright, let's go talk to the daughter."

Before they made it outside, they both stopped to say something to Bex. Dean took the lead, saying, "What you did back there, flirting with that guy for information, don't do it again."

Bex cut him off from saying anything further because she couldn't believe this. "Are you telling me in all your time Hunting that not once did you flirt to get information you needed?" She could see the brothers trying to come up with something to defend themselves but didn't give them the chance. "My point exactly. So what's the difference with me?"

"Well…" Sam began but looked at Dean for help, and Dean said, "You're our responsibility." Dean almost told her it was because she was a girl, but she was likely to sock him good for it, so he refrained from doing so.

Bex popped her lips in frustration as she crossed her arms and stepped closer to the brothers. "I'm starting to feel like a broken record here. Stop trying to shelter me, okay? Did you both forget that I know how to handle myself? You must have, because you both keep acting like I'm a little girl, which I'm not. You worry, you care, I get it, but stop babying. I'm a Hunter now and would appreciate the respect of being treated like one. Okay?"

Sam was the first to cave because she had a point. He's been so worried about her wellbeing that he couldn't let himself see that she could take care of herself. Every time Bex proved herself he could only see it in the moment then go back to wanting to keep her out of trouble. She was the only link he had to Jess left and if anything ever happened to her – especially on his watch – he'd never to be able to forgive himself. Even so, Bex was right, so he caved.

"Okay," Sam replied. "We'll back off a bit."

That was all Bex wanted. "Thank you!" she said with an arm-waving flourish. "You two were starting to suffocate me." She proceeded to pat them both on the chest before walking out of the building.

Dean stood there with Sam for a moment so he could talk to his brother. "Do you seriously think we should back off? Bex doesn't know enough to keep herself from getting killed."

"I'm not saying we send her off solo," Sam defended. "I'm just saying…she has a point. We can't protect her from every single decision she makes – whether or not we want to."

Dean didn't like this one bit. "Bad idea, Sammy. We give Bex an inch and she'll take a mile."

"You don't know her as well as you think you do," Sam shot back.

"Don't I?" Dean countered then shrugged. "We'll see."

* * *

While the Brothers went to go talk to the daughter, Bex broke off to snoop around the Shoemaker house a bit. She figured that three of them questioning the daughter for information about her father's death would be a bit much, so Bex opted out. Honestly, she just didn't want to be a part of the funeral's reception. It brought back too many memories for her – memories that fueled her and yet wished would leave her alone.

Bex just made it to the bathroom when Dean asked from behind her, "Find anything?" She didn't even hear them approach, so she jumped about fifty feet. "Jeeze Louise," she breathed. "And no, not yet. What did you guys learn?"

"The younger daughter, Lily, she thinks it's Bloody Mary," Sam answered then opened the bathroom door as he asked Dean, "Did Dad ever find any evidence of the Bloody Mary Legend was a real thing?"

"Not that I know of," Dean answered, flipping on the light switch and going into the room.

"Which Bloody-You know are we talking here?" Bex asked, not really comfortable about going into the bathroom with them while discussing this. "I mean, I know a story about her but it's probably not accurate."

"What's your version?" Dean asked curiously as he looked around, noting the blood stains still present on the floor.

"Mary was a Witch way back when in Salem. Before she was burned at the stake she cast a final spell to make her soul immortal or something. Anyway, Mary's spirit basically became like a vigilante and killed whoever caused another's death and went unpunished." Bex cleared her throat when all that was said and done. "At least that's the version I read. When I was a kid I had a 'Myths and Monsters A-Z' book but my father – who I thought was my father, anyway – took it from me before I could make it past B."

"Never heard that version before," Sam told her. "The Legend states the one who says the name is the one who dies, by getting their eyes scratched out. But everywhere else it's just a story. Kids all over the country play the game and this is the first time I've heard of anyone actually dying from it."

"Maybe it is just a story there," Dean suggested, "and here it's the real thing."

"So, we're going to look into this, right?" Bex looked between the brothers for an answer, even though she didn't need one.

* * *

The local library's computers were out of order so they hit the books and the newspapers to see if a woman named Mary fit the bill of having died in front of the mirror – Those were the two things all the different legends had in common. All but the version Bex knew, that is. As she sat in the motel room, curled up in a chair with book in hand, she wondered if that meant the version she knew was most likely the real one or if that meant it most likely was not.

Bex didn't even realize she had fallen asleep while reading but knew she had when a nightmarish voice screamed out "You're next!" again. She jolted upright in her seat, practically throwing the book in her lap across the room as she did. "Dammit," she said quietly to herself, rubbing her face as she did.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asked from his side of the table, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"It's nothing," she lied, and realized Sam wasn't there with them. "Where'd Sam go?"

"He went to get some coffee," Dean answered. "He doesn't want to sleep any more than you do."

Bex didn't respond to that and went to pick up her book from the floor. "Find out anything?"

"No," Dean sighed in frustration. "I've looked over everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine, committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave."

Right then Sam came in with a tray of coffee and since Bex was awake, he asked, "Filling her in?"

"He left off with Dave," Bex answered, pulling her leg onto the chair with her.

"But no Mary," Dean continued. "Nothing on weird deaths in the area either. I'm starting to think what we're dealing with here just ain't Mary."

"Maybe Mary isn't her name?" Bex was taking a shot in the dark there and she knew it. "What if the whole Bloody Mary thing is an incantation that opens the doorway or something and allows this ghost or whatever access to kill?" Bex rubbed her forehead because she was starting to feel like an idiot. "I don't know what I'm saying."

Sam handed over her coffee as he said, "It's definitely an interesting theory. But, even in this line of work, sometimes when you hear hoofbeats it really is just horses." He wasn't able to say anything more because his cellphone rang. The call was from a girl named Charlie who they talked to back at the Shoemaker reception before meeting up with Bex in the house. He gave her his cell number in case something weird happened…and it did.

* * *

The trio met up with Charlie in the park. As soon as they arrived she started telling them what happened to her friend – how she said Bloody Mary three times in the bathroom mirror and died in the same manner as Mr Shoemaker. "I heard her say it," Charlie said through her tears. "But it can't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"

"No, you're not insane," Dean replied, but she didn't find any comfort in that.

"Oh god," Charlie cried, "that makes me feel so much worse."

Bex had no idea what to do in this situation because she wasn't sure if they should tell Charlie what they thought was going on and risk sounding insane or come up with some story to cover what they thought was going on. Thankfully Bex didn't have to make a decision because Sam started talking.

"Look," Sam cautiously began. "We think something's happening here, something that can't be explained."

"And we're gonna stop it," Dean added in, looking at Charlie, "but we could use your help."

Bex was nowhere near the thought train the brothers were on so she just sat back and listened to the plan they unfolded.

* * *

Luckily enough for them, Charlie believed and trusted them enough to help them out. She got them into her deceased friend's bedroom so they could look around for evidence of anything pertaining to Bloody Mary.

"How did you manage this with your friend's mom?" Bex asked as she climbed through the bedroom window after the brothers.

"I told her mom I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie replied, crossing her arms as a way to hold herself together. "I hate lying to her."

Dean closed the shades and drapes before going through the bag of stuff they brought with Sam. "Trust us, it's for the best. Now hit the lights."

Charlie didn't question it and just turned the lights off to let them do their thing.

Bex leaned closer to the brothers to whisper, "What exactly are we looking for?"

After turning on the night vision on the camcorder to give to Sam, Dean answered with, "You'll know when you find it." With his EMF meter in hand, he started moving around the room.

"Okay," Bex sighed and reached into her pocket to pull out her keys.

"What are you planning on doing with those?" Sam asked curiously.

Bex answered by holding up the little flashlight keychain. "Blacklight. When it comes to the motels we stay at, it's my best friend. How else did you think I determined whether or not to sleep in the tub?" Without another word she started shining the blacklight on the mirrors and such.

Sam was doing something similar with the night-vision camcorder as he said, "There's something I don't get – the first victim didn't summon Mary and the victim died. How's she choosing them?"

"Beats me," Dean answered and Bex chimed in, asking Charlie, "Why the hell did Jill say it anyway?"

"It was just a joke," Charlie explained.

Dean scoffed lightly. "Well, somebody's gonna say it again. It's only a matter of time."

Sam stuck his head out of the bathroom window at that moment to say, "Hey, Bex, I'm gonna need your blacklight."

Bex handed it over to Sam after he brought the mirror out of the bathroom and set it on the bed. He ripped off the paper on the back and shined the light on it. He moved the light over the back of the mirror revealing what looked like a bloody handprint that slid, along with the blood-written appearing name 'Gary Bryman'.

"That name mean anything to you?" Bex asked Charlie since she seemed really interested in the name.

Charlie shook her head. "No. I have no idea."

The Brothers exchanged a look with each other and Bex knew by now that that look meant they had some more investigating to do.

* * *

Dean and Bex waited with Charlie in the park while Sam went to check out who Gary Bryman was. They gave Charlie some space while they waited but were sitting nearby in case anything happened.

"What are you thinking?" Dean asked as he draped his arms over the back of the bench and turned his head to look at her. He was wondering how she was dealing with all of this.

"Honestly?" Bex asked as she leaned back against the bench and looked at Dean for his reaction. He nodded and his face pretty much told her that he wouldn't have asked if he didn't want to know, so she told him. "I was thinking about the Girl Scouts."

Dean was not expecting to hear that and chuckled a bit. "Seriously? Why the Girl Scouts? Are they selling cookies around here or something because I could get down with some Thin Mints."

Bex rolled her eyes a bit, trying to hide her smile before answering seriously. "The Girl Scouts give out patches for achievements. Well, I feel like I've got a Hunting Detective badge but not an actual Hunting one."

Dean thought he got what she was trying to say, and she was right. They were trying to keep her out of the actual Hunting of things and putting her more onto research and whatnot. "Is that such a bad thing?" he asked.

"Yeah," Bex instantly answered. "I'm a part of this life now at least until we find the thing that killed Jess. Just learning about Hunting isn't the same as actually doing it. As messed up as this sounds, I want to actually kill something."

"Give and inch, take a mile," Dean said to himself but Bex clearly heard him say it, so he added in, "Don't be too quick to say that, Bex. Killing something, even if it's a Demon or some other monster, it changes you. There's no going back from something like that."

"I'm already changed," Bex pointed out. "I was changed the second I saw my sister pinned to the ceiling on fire. Me _actually_ hunting won't change me for the worse, Dean. If nothing else, it might help me get back a little of who I was."

"What makes you think that?" he asked her curiously, trying to get a sense of where her head was at.

Bex looked right at him as she answered his question. "Because then I'd actually be doing something instead of just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. That's all I could do when Jess died – _nothing_. I can't keep doing nothing anymore."

Dean thought for a moment then sighed, "Okay."

Bex thought she was hearing things when she heard him say that. "What?"

"I said 'okay'," he repeated. "You're right. We've been treating you with kid gloves, Sam especially. But you gotta take a look from Sam's side of this, too. You're the last link he has to Jess, and man I don't think I have to tell you how much he loved her. He's afraid of losing you. Hell, I'm afraid of something happening to you, too."

Bex knew this was a legit moment but wasn't in the right headspace to process it, so she joked, "Awww, you do care."

Dean chuckled a bit. "If it's taken you this long to notice then I'm doing something wrong."

Before either of them could say anything else, they saw Sam coming towards them so they got up from their bench and went to meet Sam over at Charlie's.

"What did you find out?" Bex asked as she sat on the back of the bench and rested her arms on her knees.

"Gary Bryman was an eight-year-old boy," Sam answered, referencing the piece of paper in his hand. "Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry but nobody got the plates or saw the driver."

Bex looked over at Charlie and saw the look of realization and a bit of shock on her face. "Use your voice to say what your face is." She waved her hand in front of Charlie's face to make her point.

Charlie needed a moment to get her thoughts together. "Oh my god…Jill drove that car."

Upon hearing that, Dean said, "We have to get back into the Shoemaker's house."

With that in mind, the group headed off and as they walked, Bex quietly said to Sam, "Vigilante Mary?"

Sam exhaled a bit before giving her an answer. "It's starting to look like that."

"Huh." Bex sounded a bit pleased and amused about that. "Guess my old encyclopedia of monsters wasn't so far off after all."

* * *

Charlie was able to get them back into the Shoemaker's house since she was friends with Donna. Just like with the other mirror, on the back was a handprint and a name that would only be seen with the blacklight. This time the name was 'Linda Shoemaker'.

Donna wasn't too pleased with being questioned by them and after confirming that Linda was her mom and that she overdosed on sleeping pills she told them to get the hell out of her house.

Bex waited until Donna had stormed off upstairs before saying, "So this probably means that Mr Shoemaker offed his wife, right?"

"Oh my god," Charlie gasped. "You really think he had something to do with her death?"

Sam's answer was on the vague side since they didn't have all the information yet. "Maybe."

Bex, on the other hand, was more blunt. "Probably."

Charlie looked up the stair, thinking about her friend. "I should stay here." When Sam, Dean, and Bex all opened their mouths to speak, she figured what they were going to tell her, so she held up her hand to cut them off. "Believe me, I won't say it."

"Don't say the Piggy Man thing either." Bex saw the weird looks she was getting from them and held her hands up in a 'just saying' manner. "Hey, I don't think any of us thought saying Bloody – You know – would summon anything either." She clapped her hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Don't press your luck."

* * *

Later that night at the motel room, Bex was helping Dean with his nationwide search. When Sam heard the radius, he said, "Wait – a nationwide search? Why?"

Bex was the one who answered. "We turned up nothing locally so why not look for any death in front of a mirror involving a lady named Mary?"

Sam sat on the bed beside her and her laptop. "But if she's haunting the town then she should have died in the town."

Dean was the one who spoke up now. "There's nothing local, man, but if you've got a better idea."

Sam didn't. "Okay, well, it seems like her killings have a pattern. With Mr Shoemaker and the hit-and-run…"

Bex chimed in as she typed away at her computer. "Secrets were kept, people died. Mirrors reveal the truth and that's where Mary comes in. If you've got a bad enough secret where death is involved, Mary sees it and makes you pay for it – Whether or not you're the one who summoned her, apparently." She looked away from the screen to add in, "You know, if you really want to get philosophical, you could say even funhouse mirrors reveal the truth."

Dean looked at her, mildly perplexed. "How so?"

Bex returned her eyes to the screen as she answered, "Nobody's perfect."

Dean kinda wanted to continue on this conversation, but he found something. "Take a look at this." He handed the recently printed out photographs and handed them to Sam, while saying to Bex, "You're getting better at all this stuff."

"I pay attention." Bex set her computer aside and looked at the crime scene photos of a woman in front of a mirror, lying in a pool of her blood. On the mirror was a handprint and the start of a name written. "Whoa…Dejavu anyone?"

Sam looked through the photos. "This does look like the same handprint."

Dean read the information from his computer screen. "Her name was Mary Worthington, an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana."

Bex absorbed this information and surmised, "Let me guess, we're going to Fort Wayne, Indiana?"

"Dean's right, you are getting good at this," Sam heavily teased her.

Bex rolled her eyes and shoved him because of it. "Hardy har-har. You guys go but I think I'll stay here in case someone stupid ends up talking about Mary again."

Sam didn't particularly like the idea of leaving Bex alone. "You sure about that?"

"I don't have a secret where anyone's died, so…yeah. If someone does summon her then I'm probably the best person to help." Bex got to her feet, saying, "Besides, I'm far more interested in dealing with the supernatural stuff. You guys can deal with the humans."

* * *

The following day while the Brothers were in Indiana, Bex got a frantic phone call from Charlie. Her friend Donna summoned Mary in the bathroom mirror in the school's bathroom and now Charlie was seeing her in anything that cast a reflection. Bex brought her back to the motel room, drew all the shades, turned around anything reflective, and covered up what couldn't. Just when she was about to call the Brothers and fill them in, Sam called her first.

"I was just about to call you guys," she began to say, but was cut off by Dean. Which likely meant she was on speakerphone.

"It's definitely Mary Worthington. The detective thinks she died trying to reveal her murderer's secret." Dean was about to continue but Sam picked up from there.

"We think Mary's spirit is tied to the mirror she died in front of. Her family had it for years until they sold it a week ago to Estate Antiques – a store in Toledo," Sam didn't get a chance to finish everything he had to tell her because she cut him off.

"Guys!" Bex all but shouted into the phone then took a deep breath. "You can tell me all that when you get back, but there's something going on. Remember when I said I should stay here in case someone summoned Mary?" She could just picture Sam and Dean looking at each other before they both answered, "Yeah."

Bex looked at Charlie who was still freaking out about what happened. "Well it's a good thing I stood firm with that decision…because someone did."

Bex sat beside Charlie until Sam and Dean got back. During the wait, Charlie told her all about how her ex-boyfriend threatened to kill himself if she left him, and how she told him to do it before walking out on him. Charlie didn't think he would actually do it and kept the story to herself. This wasn't something she wanted a lot of people to know, so she made Bex swear not to tell anyone else. Bex gave her word that if it wasn't pertinent to getting rid of Mary once and for all then she wouldn't tell anyone – not even the Brothers.

* * *

When Sam and Dean finally walked into the motel room, Bex got off the bed and went over to them. "What happened?" Sam asked her, wanting more than just the tid-bits she said over the phone.

"Donna did the whole Bloody-You know in the mirror at school when Charlie was with her. And since Donna doesn't have a secret and Charlie does…Mary set sights on her." Bex crossed her arms and looked back to Charlie briefly. "She told me what happened but doesn't want anyone else to know, so don't ask her. She's really shook up about all this."

Dean looked around as she spoke and noticed how everything reflective was taken care of. "Good thinking with all this."

Bex was starting to feel like all the times she was told she was getting better or good thinking were condescending compliments and thus got slightly defensive about it. "It was common sense. No reflections, no way for Mary to kill her. You said her spirit is tied to the original mirror but she can clearly jump around so, yeah, common sense."

Both Brothers noticed the snap to her reply but before either of them could say anything about it, they were interrupted by Charlie who said, "I'm going to die…aren't I?"

Sam went over to assure her. "No, you're not. Not any time soon."

Bex sat down beside Charlie. "We're going to take care of this, okay? You're going to sit on this bed and not look at _anything_ with a reflection while we go and take care of this. I promise you, we've got this. And you know I don't make promises lightly." That was something she made clear to Charlie before when asked to promise not to tell anyone her story.

Bex gathered up her things and walked out to the Impala with the Brothers. Before getting into the back seat she said, "I better not have just turned myself into a damn liar."

* * *

On the drive to the antique shop, Dean looked back in the rearview mirror at Bex sitting in the backseat. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her right then but the matter at hand took precedence. "Just tell me one thing…was it her fault? Did Charlie outright kill someone?"

Bex didn't find fault in answering his question. "No. No, she didn't."

"It doesn't matter," Sam chimed in. "Spirits don't exactly see shades of gray. Charlie had a secret, someone died. That's good enough for Mary."

"Which is all the more reason why we need to kill the bitch." Bex scooted forward and leaned on the front seat, sticking her head between Sam and Dean. "Is it really that simple to just smash her mirror?"

"I've been thinking of that, actually," Sam answered. "I don't think it's going to be that simple. Mary's hard to pin down, right? She just moves from mirror to mirror, so who's to say she's not gonna just keep hiding in the forever."

"So…are you saying that we summon Mary in her original mirror and _then_ smash it?" Bex figured that's what Sam was saying anyway.

"Exactly." Sam turned to face her. "You know, you're getting…"

"If you say I'm getting good at this I swear I will put your head through that window." Bex moved back completely into the backseat.

The Brothers shared a look at Bex's reaction because it was clearly bugging her. Dean was the one to say something about it, though. "You doing alright back there?"

Bex shot back into the space between the Brothers. "Ever since you've agreed to give me more responsibility with the Hunting stuff you're been complimenting me on _every little detail_. It's like you're afraid to offend me now or something so you're uber-encouraging. If you think that's helping, it's not. So stop being patronizing asses and tell me I've done a good job when I _actually_ deserve it." Feeling as if her point was made, she returned to the backseat with a sharp exhale.

Neither Sam nor Dean tried to explain or defend themselves because, well, she had a point so they went back to talking about Mary. "Game plan – we summon Mary into her original mirror and smash it, hoping that takes care of the whole issue." Dean looked over to Sam. "Who's going to summon it?"

Bex was glad they just moved on because she felt like she'd given them something to think about. "I'm out. Like I said, I don't have any secrets where death was involved. Everyone knew what happened at Lake Manitoc, so Mary won't show up for me."

Sam kept his eyes forward as he said, "I'll do it. She'll come after me."

"Alright, that's it." Dean pulled the car onto the side of the road and turned back to Bex. "I need a minute with my brother."

Bex wasn't going to question it or argue about it, so she just got out of the car and let them has it out.

Once Bex was out of the car, Dean turned to Sam. "This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret, that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, it's gonna kill you. Now, listen to me." Dean's voice grew firm. "It wasn't your fault. If you want to blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or, hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I'm the one who dragged you from her in the first place."

Sam finally looked at his brother. "I don't blame you."

Dean was quick to answer that. "Well, you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could have done."

"I could have warned her." Sam's voice was heavy with guilt.

"Of what?" Dean shot back. "You didn't know it was going to happen. And, besides, all of this isn't a secret. I mean, I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."

"No, you don't," Sam countered. "You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything."

Dean didn't like the sound of this. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told you, now would it?" Before Dean could answer that, Sam rolled down the window and called out to Bex, "Let's go."

Bex got into the Impala and her brow furrowed from the obvious tension in the air. "Okay…not gonna ask."

Dean's face hardened a bit towards Sam. "I was just telling my brother here that no way in hell is he going to be the one to summon Mary."

"If I don't do this then that girl back there is going to die. And who knows how many after that." Sam let out a breath. "I'm doing this. You have got to let me do this."

Bex reached out and put her hand on Dean's shoulder. "He's got this. Besides, with us as his backup Mary's not gonna know what hit her."

* * *

"You're using too much tension," Bex said to Sam and he attempted to pick the lock of the Antiques shop later that night.

Sam scoffed a chuckle at that. "I'm pretty sure I know how to pick a lock, thanks."

"So do I," Bex retorted. "Half the time I forgot my spare key inside the apartment." At Dean's slightly raised brow, she added in, "You'd learn to pick a lock real quick too if you were locked out and desperately needed to use the bathroom."

Dean opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. "Nope. I don't think I want to know the details."

"Done." Sam opened the door and let Bex go in first.

She walked past him and almost stopped dead in her tracks because the first thing she saw were mirrors – lots and lots of mirrors. And that was just when they first walked in. "This is going to be fun."

It wasn't until the Brothers followed that they understood what she was talking about. Dean wasn't liking this either. "Well, that's just great." He turned on his flashlight to look at the picture of Mary's mirror. "Let's start looking."

Bex shone her light around as she walked through the shop. The place seemed endless and gave her the shivers. "Hate pawn shops," she muttered to herself and turned a corner only to almost collide with a pair of antique mannequins. She gasped sharply then scolded herself for getting startled by something so harmless. On that thought, she muttered aloud, "Better be harmless. Better not come to life to bite my ass." Bex made a face at the pair and stuck out her tongue before moving on.

"Maybe they sold it already?" Dean asked from his section of the store because he hadn't found it either.

"I don't think so," Sam called back.

Bex followed Sam's voice and met Dean there. The mirror Sam was standing in front of was definitely the one from Mary's crime scene photos. Bex was starting to get a few goosebumps, but wasn't about to tell them that.

"You sure about that?" Dean wanted to make damn sure that Sam was ready.

Sam gripped the crowbar in his hand and took a deep breath. "I'm ready." He was about to summon Mary but was prevented from doing so when headlights started to shine through the front store windows.

Bex looked towards the front and pointed to the Brothers. "I'll deal with that. Don't do anything until I get back." She sprinted to the front of the store, not knowing that they did not listen to her and summoned Mary without her.

Bex unlocked the front door and went out to find a young security guard getting out of the vehicle. He wasn't much taller than her and was pretty scrawny by the look of him, so she figured one way or another she'd get out of this pretty easily. "Evening," she greeted with a smile. "Is there a problem?"

"The alarm was set off at this address," the Rookie replied.

"I'm sorry, that was me. My boss put me in charge of making the deposit at the bank but it wasn't until I got home that I realized I grabbed the wrong bag. So stupid of me." Bex was standing right in front of him beside the car at this point. "If you could act like this never happened, I would _so_ appreciate it."

The Rookie may be just that but he took his training seriously. "Oh, really? What's his name?"

Bex blinked a few times. "Excuse me?"

"Your boss," he answered. "What's his name?"

Bex started talking with her hands a bit as she said. "You think I don't know my boss's name? Wow, okay, you know what? Let me tell you something." She pointed right at him. "You're smarter than you look." Before the Rookie could say or do anything, Bex put her hand on the side of his head and smashed it into the side of the car's roof, rendering him unconscious. After checking to make sure he was indeed just unconscious, she looked around to make sure no one saw it then darted back into the shop.

Bex went back to where she left the Brothers, calling out, "Hey, guys, what's the policy on witnesses because…" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Mary's original mirror was shattered and Mary-Bloody Mary herself was standing in front of the Brothers in the flesh -so to speak- and was doing to them what she did to all her other victims.

"Oh hell no!" Bex ran towards them and picked up a mirror. Once she was in front of the Sam and Dean – who were both writing on the floor in pain as blood streamed from their eyes – she held the mirror up in front of Mary. "Let's see how you like it, bitch." Bex hoped what she was thinking was right – that Mary and her secrets involving those she killed would come back to bite her.

Her thinking was right. When Mary looked at her reflection in the mirror blood started pouring from her eyes before her entire body liquified and dropped to the floor as shattered glass. Bex threw down the mirror she was holding to break it, just to be on the safe side. With that done, she turned around and crouched in front of the Brothers. "Sam? Dean? Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Dean groaned as Bex helped him into a sitting position. "I think we will be." When Bex went to help Sam sit up next, he said, "Hey, Bex."

Bex looked at him with a, "Yeah?"

Dean locked eyes with her and genuinely said, "Good job."

"Thank you." Bex didn't give him any crap about it because this time she felt like she deserved it. Knowing that had to get the hell out of there, she said, "We need to jet because there's an unconscious security guard outside that might wake up any time now."

Sam and Dean were both standing now and making their way to the back door where they came in. "You took out a security guard?" Dean sounded pretty impressed by that.

Bex took that moment to tease. "Flirting wasn't cutting it."

As they got into the car, Bex asked, "So…how much bad luck do you think that all amounts to in there?"

Dean chuckled a bit before answering. "I'd say about six hundred years."

Sam finally jumped into this conversation to say, "Is that all?"

Bex looked back to the building and thought aloud, "If reincarnation does exist I hope it doesn't follow us into the next life because that'd just _suck_."

* * *

The next morning, they brought Charlie back to her house since there wasn't anything else for her to worry about. Not where Mary was concerned at least. After they dropped Charlie off and got back on the road, Bex leaned forward into the front seat and looked at Sam. "I don't blame you – for Jess's death…I don't blame you. I'm trying hard not to blame myself either."

"Why would you blame yourself?" Sam really wanted to know this because if Bloody Mary didn't pick up on anything then he wanted to know what Bex was thinking.

Bex leaned back into her seat and looked out the window. "I left. That night, I went out to get some milk for the cookies. If I stayed then maybe I could have done something to stop what happened."

Dean looked at Bex in the rearview mirror. "If you stayed then you'd have been killed, too." Silence filled the car after that was said so Dean changed the subject. He briefly looked at his brother before saying, "Now that all this is over, I want to know what that secret is."

Sam looked out the window for a moment before answering. "Look…you're my brother, and I'd die for you. But there are some things I need to keep to myself."

As much as Bex wanted to know Sam's secret as well, she didn't jump in and try to ask him. Instead, she held onto the star-in-sun amulet and thought about how it wouldn't be fair to ask him to share his secret when she wasn't willing to share her own – Even when she wasn't entirely sure what her secret was.

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 5


	6. Shifter

Bex waited in line at the latest convenience store with an armful of road snacks while Dean filled up the Impala with gas. To kill time waiting in line, Bex checked the emails on her phone to see if there had been anything more than the e-receipt from her storage unit where all her stuff was currently located. Well, all of her stuff that wasn't with her that is. At some point Bex would go through it all and get rid of anything she didn't need or want but that was low on the priorities list. The number one priority was finding the Demon that killed Jess and make them pay _**dearly**_ for it.

It was Bex's turn in line so she placed her stuff on counter and read the only other new email in her inbox while the cashier rang her up. The email was from Becky – the sister of Bex's ex Zack. No, not ex-friend with benefit but ex-boyfriend. In fact, Zack was the last relationship she had before she kept her foot down where she stood on relationships.

Anyway, the email from Becky read that Zack had been arrested for killing his girlfriend and while Becky swore up and down that he didn't do it, the cops had a pretty tight case. "No way," Bex voiced aloud because she couldn't believe he'd do such a thing.

Bex quickly paid for her purchases, took the paper bag, and went out to the Impala. "We're going to St. Louis," she said to the Brothers and wasn't going to budge on this unilateral decision.

Dean scoffed a chuckle at her declaration. "Uh, no we're not. St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us."

Instead of shooting Bex down completely, Sam intended on finding out why she wanted to go there. "What's up, Bex?"

"Check your email," Bex answered as she gestured to the phone in his hand. "You got a copy." She opened the back door to set the paper bag inside but didn't get in herself and wouldn't until it was agreed that they'd be going to St. Louis.

Sam read the same email that Bex had received and couldn't believe it either. "Zack isn't capable of doing that."

"I know!" Bex exclaimed with a wave of her hand forward. "Which is why we're going to St. Louis."

Dean looked between Sam sitting in the front seat and Bex standing beside him, feeling very out of the loop. "Anyone care to fill me in on what's going on here?"

"Our friend Zack is being charged with murder. His sister Becky swears he didn't do it despite all the evidence against him." Sam finished reading the email and sided with Bex. "Let's go to St. Louis."

Dean had zero intention of that happening. "We're not going. Look, I'm sorry that your friend is in trouble, but this isn't our kind of case."

Bex wasn't going to stand for that. "I know Zack probably better than I know most people. There is no way in hell he's capable of murder unless he was possessed or something."

Beneath everything else about this topic, Dean felt a pang of jealousy when Bex emphasized how well she knew the guy. "Close friend, huh?"

"He was until he became my boyfriend. Long story short, we should have just stuck with being friends." Bex changed the topic back to the trip to St. Louis. "You're outnumbered here, Dean. We're going to St. Louis."

Dean finished taking care of the gas pump then sighed in defeat. "If you two are so sure this guy is innocent and there's something hinky going on, then fine. Let's go." Was it horrible that a _teensy_ part of Dean hoped the guy was guilty so Bex would think of her ex in a different light? Probably so, but that didn't stop him.

* * *

400 miles give or take later they arrived in St. Louis. Bex was the first to knock on Becky's door and smiled when the familiar face answered. "Hey, Becky."

"Well if it isn't my twin in name only," Becky joked in reply as she hugged her before going to hug Sam. "I didn't expect either of you to show, yet alone together."

After Sam hugged Becky, he explained. "Bex tagged along for the road trip." He stepped aside to introduce Dean. "This is my brother Dean. Dean, this is Becky." Now that the introduction was out of the way, Sam spoke again. "Bex and I got your email. We're here to help any way we can."

Becky smiled appreciatively at them and stepped aside so they could enter the house. "Please, come in."

Bex was the first to follow Becky into the kitchen and asked along the way, "Your parents still live in Paris half the year?" She noticed the house seemed pretty empty.

"Yeah. I can't believe you still remember that." Becky walked over to the kitchen island and filled them in a little bit on what happened. "But they're coming back for the trial and I'm staying here until Zack is free; taking the semester off."

Bex sat on one of the stools at the island and got right to it, "Becky, what happened?"

Becky got herself a glass of water before giving her and the Brothers the details. "When Zack got home he found his girlfriend Emily tied to a chair. She was – she was bloody and beaten and wasn't breathing." Her voice started to break a little bit. "Zack called 911 but when the cops arrived, they arrested _him_." Becky looked at the three of them in turn as she spoke, "But there is no way he could have done it. He would have had to have been in two places at once. The cops they – they have a video of some security camera across the street and it shows him getting home at 10:30. Emily was killed soon after that, but I swear he was here with me having a few beers until at least after midnight."

Upon hearing all this, Sam got right into gear. "You know, maybe we could see the crime scene – Zack's house."

"We could?" Dean still wasn't on board with this.

Becky didn't understand what they were offering. "Why? What could you do?"

Bex had no idea how to answer that because, honestly, she hadn't thought that far ahead but Sam answered her without missing a beat.

"Well, me and Bex, not much. But Dean's a cop." Sam looked at his brother with an expression asking him to get on board.

Dean chuckled a bit uncomfortably being put on the spot like that for a situation he still didn't think they should have anything to do with, but in spite of that he followed Sam's lead. "A detective, actually."

Becky hadn't expected that. "Really? Where?" She wanted to make sure Sam wasn't trying to give her false hope.

"Bisbee, Arizona," Dean answered without hesitation. "But I'm off duty now."

Becky still wasn't too sure about this. "I don't know. I mean, it's nice of you to offer, but I don't know."

Now it was Bex's turn to seal the deal so to speak. "Becky, I know Zack didn't do this. Even if you didn't give him an alibi I would still know he didn't do it because that's not the kind of person he is. Now if there's any chance of finding a way to prove that he's innocent please let us have it."

Becky caved in that moment and nodded lightly. "Okay. I'll, uhm, I'll get the keys." Before she went off to do that, she turned back to Bex. "Mind telling me again why you and Zack broke up? You guys were so great together."

"I can't believe I'm using this line, but it wasn't him it was me." Bex couldn't say anything better than that without going into the whole explanation on how she was never really keen on relationships to begin with but cared about Zack enough to give it a try which just blew up in their faces. Yeah, she really didn't want to get into that but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to help him out to the best of her ability.

Despite Becky wanting more details, she left the three of them in the kitchen and went to get Zack's house keys.

Once Becky was gone, Dean repeated his opinion about the whole situation. "I still don't think this is our kind of problem."

"Two places at once?" Sam countered with an incredulous tone towards Dean's repeated statement. "We've looked into less."

If Dean wasn't on board with this then Bex wasn't going to make him stick around. "If you want to leave I'm not going to stop you, but if it makes a difference know that I'm not going anywhere until I find out the truth." Bex left the kitchen to wait for Becky in the other room since her point had been made.

Dean pressed his lips together and shook his head in an 'I don't like this' manner because now he was stuck there to make sure not only Sam kept himself out of trouble but Bex too.

* * *

When they arrived at the crime scene, Bex wasn't sure what she was expecting but what they found was worse than she had pictured. There seemed to blood in various drips or splatter patterns on just about every surface. Seeing this scene was just…different. It affected her differently, probably because it was personal. Between what happened to Jess, Lake Manitoc, and now what's going on with Zack, Bex couldn't stop thinking about how she was connected to all three.

"Maybe I'm cursed," Bex muttered as she toyed with the pendant, looking down at the picture of Zack with his girlfriend.

"What was that?" Dean had heard her speak but didn't catch what was said.

"Nothing." Bex kept her thoughts to herself and went over to where Sam and Becky stood. "Did the cops say anything else?"

Becky had been telling Sam about how Emily let her attacker in and how there was no signs of forced entry, then remembered something else. "There is something; The police didn't think it was anything, but a week before what happened to Emily there was a break in and clothes were stolen – Zack's clothes."

Bex thought that was weird but wasn't sure what it meant beyond that, so she headed into the kitchen while Becky spoke to Dean about the neighbor's dog. Bex found Sam standing in front of the fridge, looking at a picture of Zack, herself, and Sam. "I remember that day," she said fondly. "It was the day I introduced you to Jess." She wanted to reach out and touch the photograph but knew she couldn't.

Sam remembered the day, too. "Jess took the picture."

Bex took in a deep, melancholy breath. "That she did."

Dean interrupted their moment when he came over to tell them something he'd learned from Becky. "So the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed. Maybe Fido saw something."

Upon hearing that, Bex had to ask him, "So you do think this is our kind of problem."

"No, probably not," Dean instantly replied but his tune changed slightly when he added in, "But we should get a look at the security take just to make sure."

When Becky joined them, Dean asked if her lawyers could get their hands on the security tape since he didn't have that kind of jurisdiction. To the surprise and the convenience of the trio, Becky informed them that she already had it because she had to see it for herself.

"Swiped it from the lawyer's office, huh?" Bex asked as they headed out since there was nothing more to see at Zack's place.

Becky smiled in a 'you got me' manner, knowing she didn't have to say a word to tell Bex she was right.

* * *

Bex was still going over what they saw on the security footage. Zack was definitely on them, at least someone or something that looked like Zack was. There was something wrong with his eyes – they flashed or something on camera. Sam pointed out that a lot of cultures believed photographs were an insight into the soul and maybe the dog saw what the camera was giving them a glimpse of.

So apparently they were dealing with a Doppelganger type situation. It took everything Bex had to not to make a Katherine Pierce reference. Any other time she likely would have, but this time she as more focused on making sure Zack was declared innocent than making obscure references just to confuse the Brothers.

It was five-thirty in the morning when they went back to Zack's place because Sam wanted to check out the back. The video showed Zack's Double going in but not coming out which meant he went out elsewhere and could have left a trail – A trail that the police wouldn't think to look for since they found Zack inside at the scene of the crime.

Since Dean was complaining about how early it was, Bex handed him her to-go cup of coffee and followed Sam to see if there was anything back there that could lead them to answers.

While Sam was checking out the back door, Bex spotted something nearby. There were red smudges on the power line pole which were clearly something of significance. "I got blood over here," she informed the Brothers.

After Sam confirmed that it was indeed blood, Dean looked around where he stood across the way. "Trail must end there. There's nothing over here."

"That's weird," Bex commented as she looked around for signs of more blood. "They couldn't have just disappeared." She was about to cross the street but had to step back due to an ambulance speeding by with its sirens blaring. Since it stopped just a few blocks away it was decided they should check it out.

Things were starting to fall into place informational wise now. The guy that was being arrested a few blocks away was on his way home from a business trip while his wife was being tied up and beaten. The guy came face to face with his Double and the cops called him crazy, but the trio knew better than that.

Once they were away from the growing crowed around the latest crime scene's residence, Bex asked, "So are we dealing with a pack of Dark Doubles or are we dealing with one creature that can turn into their Doubles?"

Dean thought she was onto something there. "Like a Shapeshifter. Every Lore has mention of some kind of Shapeshifter."

Sam was on board with this theory, "But can any Shapeshifter in any Lore fly?" He explained why he asked them that. "Just like at Zack's place there's a trail that just ends. Like Bex said, they can't just disappear."

"Well there is another direction they can go," Dean pointed out. "Down."

Bex just so happened to be standing right beside a manhole cover and remembered there was one near Zack's apartment building, too. All the evidence was leading them there, so Bex asked the Brothers, "So, which one of you is going to be a gentleman and open this up for me?"

"For you?" Sam asked with a brief chuckle.

"Uh, yeah." Bex felt like she was pointing out the obvious. "Ladies first."

After the manhole cover was removed, Bex wasn't first but went down after Dean since the Brothers agreed it'd be best in case the Shapeshifter happened to be right there in the sewer.

As Bex finished climbing down the last rung of the metal ladder she couldn't help but say, "When I was a kid I always wanted to explore the sewers to find the Ninja Turtles. The exploration was way better in my head."

Her statement was only affirmed when she took a few steps ahead and almost stepped right into a pile of skin-like goo. "Oh please tell me that's not Shapeshifter skin. Do Shapeshifters shed their skin when they take on a new form?"

"Don't know for sure," Dean answered as he crouched down and checked it out. "It's pretty sick if they do."

"I think I'm the one who's going to be sick." Bex had to look away from the skin goo or else she was going to lose what little breakfast she had that morning.

Once she was sure the wave of nausea had passed, she got back to the case at hand. "So how do we deal with something like this?"

"Silver. One thing I learned from Dad is no matter what kind of Shapeshifter it is there's one sure way to kill it – Silver bullet to the heart." And Dean just so happened to have the proper weaponry in the trunk of the Impala so they headed back up to the surface to get it.

* * *

Bex leaned back against the Impala while Dean loaded up the gun clips with silver bullets. "Does it have to be bullets or anything silver to the heart?" She wasn't sure if it was a specific thing where bullets were concerned or just that they were the most convenient.

"As long as its pure silver and can piece the heart it'll work." Dean put the clip into the gun and handed it to her. "You know how to use this thing?" A teasing smirk spread across his face as he asked her that.

"I'm pretty sure all my target papers from the shooting range prove I do." Bex took the gun and slipped it into the back of her jeans. "If memory serves right, I had a better score than you." Now she was the one with the teasing smile.

Dean scoffed a chuckle. "You wish." After finishing up with the other clips, he loaded up the guns to keep one for himself and give the other to Sam.

Now that they were armed and ready to go, the trio went back down into the sewers and not without Bex saying, "If I do throw up down here please don't hold it against me."

"Oh, we won't," Dean smirked. "We'll just never let you live it down."

"Hardy har-har." Bex shined the light behind her to make sure they wasn't anything behind them before following the Brothers. They followed the trail of smaller skin goo piles before coming upon a massive one that led them to believe the Shifter's lair was close.

Bex officially thought she was going to be sick now. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right there." She put her hand over her mouth and shook her head in a lame attempt to keep herself from throwing up.

The Brothers didn't go too far before turning around to check on Bex and found the Shifter standing right behind her.

"Bex!" Dean called out before running back to her, but didn't get to her before the Shifter slammed her against the pipes lining the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" Bex shouted then winced. When the Brothers were more focused on checking on her than going after the Shifter, she shouted at them in a scolding manner, "Don't let that bastard get away!" That certainly got the Brothers' butts into gear.

Bex took another moment to get her bearings before going after them. It didn't take her long to find the ladder they climbed out of, due to the manhole cover being open, but once she climbed out she didn't see the Brothers or the Shifter. "This is so not going to end well." After concealing her gun in the inner pocket of her tan leather jacket, she picked a random direction and started her search for either the Brothers or the Shifter – whichever came first.

* * *

Bex was starting to worry because she couldn't find the Brothers anywhere and neither of them were answering their phones. After going to the Motel and not finding them there, she went to Becky's house just in case and sighed in relief when she saw the Impala parked outside.

When Bex went into the unlocked house she heard footsteps hurrying down the hallway so she pulled out her weapon and was met by Dean doing the same to her. Since he hadn't lowered his weapon yet, neither did she. "What the hell, Dean? Put the gun down!"

"Prove your Bex and not the Shapeshifter," he replied with his weapon still aimed at her. "Tell me something only she'd know."

"Fine, but afterwards you prove the same. Deal?" Bex hadn't learned what the Brothers had – she didn't know about the psychic link between the Shifter and who they were copying. When Dean nodded, she thought for a moment and came up with something. "You kissed me once to shut me up after I asked a bunch of random Hunting questions…"

He picked up where she left off, saying, "Then I told you I'd answer every question like that if it had nothing to do with the case and you asked right away about sparkling Vampires."

Since that was something only she and Dean knew, Bex lowered her gun and he did the same. "Mind telling me what happened? Why weren't you and Sam answering your phones?"

He went over to the sofa and sat down with Bex following suit. "We came here to look for you after we lost the Shifter. What we found was the Shifter going after Becky. They got away and Sam took Becky to the Hospital. I decided to stay here in case you came back."

"Please tell me Becky is going to be okay." Bex would lose her mind if anything horrible happened to her.

"Don't worry about her, Bex. Do you really think we'd just be sitting here if I thought there was something to worry about?" He raised a questioning brow at her.

"Okay, I'm worrying less about Becky but what's to stop the Shifter from going after someone again?" Bex stood up and headed for the door. "We need to get Sam and put it down."

He followed her to the door and stepped in front to block her path. "You don't think you're jumping the gun a bit there?"

Bex had no idea why he asked her that. "This Shifter has killed who knows how many people and framed just as many innocent people for it. You know this so I don't get what the problem is."

He rolled his head a bit before moving his shoulders to adjust his jacket. "You don't care what their motives are? Maybe the Shifter has a reason for doing what they do."

"So far every supernatural monster I've crossed paths with since tagging along with you has been pure evil. Maybe there are some good monsters out there who are just trying to live and if I meet one I'll handle things differently. But this isn't one of those times." Bex scoffed lightly as she looked at Dean, trying to figure him out. "Is this some weird Hunter test or something?"

He just chuckled darkly, "Or something."

Bex was starting to get a bad feeling about this entire situation so she decided to err on the side of caution but it was too late. When Bex pulled out her gun and aimed it at who she now wasn't so sure was Dean, he whacked it out of her hand before kicking her back into the wall.

He moved towards Bex as she fell to the floor. "Now why did you have to go and ruin the moment? You're gonna have to pay for that. Pity. I was starting to feel for you as much as Dean."

Bex felt so stupid for not realizing it sooner and wouldn't ever make that same mistake again. There was no time to think about that now; It was time to fight.

With all the force Bex could muster, she shot out her first right below the belt. Thankfully for her even Shifters were sensitive in that area so it gave her time to get to her feet and run like hell. Unfortunately she wasn't in a position within the room to go anywhere but upstairs so that's where she had to go.

Bex ran right into the first room she came upon and locked the door. At the sounds of whimpering coming from behind her, she found Becky tied up in a chair clearly having been beaten. "I'm so sorry." Bex felt if only she'd realized something was wrong sooner that the Shifter would be dead by now.

Despite Bex's attempts to get Becky free there wasn't enough time to do so before Shifter Dean kicked the bedroom door open. With her heart pounding and adrenaline pumping, Bex charmed at him. She managed to get another punch in before he sliced her arm and backhanded her across the face.

The next thing Bex knew there were sounds coming from downstairs which caused Shifter Dean to book it out of there. She wasn't sure who or what was coming but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to get Becky free. Bex only stopped her attempts when several SWAT team members came into the room.

One of the SWAT officers reported that there were two female victims that were alive before they left the room, leaving another member to help get Becky free to receive medical attention.

Everything else was a whirlwind after that. Multiple gunshots were fired in another part of the house, an officer or two had wounded or worse, and Shifter Dean had gotten away. When Bex made the firm decision to come to St. Louis in order to help Zack, this was _not_ where she had pictured it going.

* * *

Bex didn't want to waste time with the paramedics; she just wanted to get her gun and go after the son of a bitch that was causing so much trouble. Alas the cops along with the paramedics were adamant she get checked out so she was pretty much stuck. Ultimately they deemed that the gash on her arm didn't need stitches so they patched her up and didn't take her to the hospital unlike Becky.

Bex then had to go down to the station to give a report to the police about what happened and told them she didn't get a look at the attacker. Her claim was that she found Becky upstairs like that, tried to help her, and ended up getting slashed then whacked before the police showed up. There was a part of her report that was true – it all happened in such a blur. Of course she just had to fib on which part of the evening that applied to.

It was morning by the time the cops let her go after asking her questions over and over again. Both Dean and Sam made sure she had interrogation practice and stuck to everything she had learned. Apparently it worked because they didn't try holding her or connecting her to the crimes or anything. She didn't know that Becky had given a report as well and made it clear that Bex was trying to help her, so that probably held more weight than Bex's interrogation endurance practice.

* * *

It was morning by the time Bex got back to Becky's house and found her gun had slid under the sofa. She knew Becky was already home but didn't reach out to her. The last thing she wanted to deal with was being questioned by her, too.

Now that she was armed with that she headed back to the sewers to find the damn Shifter and not make the same mistake twice. Bex's nausea seemed to be under control as she walked through the dank sewer system because she didn't even notice the putrid aroma anymore.

Bex had ventured through the sewers for awhile before she got close to the lair again and heard voices in the distance. Mainly she heard Dean's voice and hated that she couldn't tell if this was really Dean or the Shifter again. Erring on the side of caution was definitely going to be on her agenda this time.

With gun raised at the ready, Bex entered the lair and aimed it right at Dean who was helping a terrified looking Becky to her feet. "What the hell?"

"Bex?" Dean couldn't even express the relief he felt in that moment to see her standing there, even if she was pointing her gun at him. "Reunion hug later. Right now we have to save Sam. He's at Becky's house."

"And that thing is now me," Becky added with a confused and scared tone.

As much as Bex wanted to stay firm with her erring on the side of caution she changed tune when she took in Dean's appearance. For one thing he wasn't wearing the Amulet he always did – something the Shifter had in is possession. For another, this Dean was helping Becky, but more than that there was something in Dean's eyes. There was just _something_ there that the Shifter couldn't copy – If only she had noticed it before.

Bex finally lowered her weapon and went over to take over helping Becky. "I never want to do a Shapeshifter case _again_."

Dean didn't give her an answer to that due to not wanting to give his word on something he doubted he'd be able to keep, so he just started leading them out of the sewers.

"You and Sam have a lot of explaining to do." Becky wasn't going to let either of them get away without an explanation.

Bex had expected that and didn't put up a fight. "Figures."

* * *

Luckily enough they got back to Becky's house in time to save Sam. Dean fired two shots of silver bullets at Shifter Dean that hit center mass thus killing him. Everything just seemed to fall into place from there, but Dean's name pretty much got tarnished in the process. The authorities tied Shifter Dean to all the other murders after finding the lair in the sewers. That influx of information allowed Zack and the others being charged for the Shifter's crimes to be released. But of course Dean's name would always be tied to the murders _and_ be labelled as dead. Bex figured that would probably cause some issues in the future but they'd just have to cross that bridge when they came to it.

Becky sure didn't let Sam or Bex get away without an explanation and that's what they gave her. They explained that this was something they did – travelled around and dealt with cases like that. While Sam told her it was a family business where he was concerned, Bex told her that after Jess died she needed a purpose in life and that's what Hunting had given her.

Presently Bex was taking her time saying goodbye to Becky since Sam had already done so. Bex hugged her tight, saying, "I'm gonna miss you, twin in name only."

Becky hugged her back before pulling away and admitting, "I wish you could stay for awhile longer. I know Zack would want to see you."

"While I will always care about Zack and help you both if it's ever needed I can't be a part of your lives beyond that. It's safer that way." As much as Bex wished it was different, it wasn't and she accepted it. "Take care, Becky."

"You, too, Bex." Becky waved goodbye as Bex crossed the street to join the brothers before going back into the house.

When Bex joined the brothers, they were looking at her a bit oddly. At least she thought they were looking at her oddly. "What is it?"

Dean answered since Sam seemed to be chickening out. "We were just saying that if there was ever a time for you to stop Hunting, now would be a good time."

Sam picked up from there, saying, "You could have a normal life, Bex. Dean and I will deal with the Demon that killed Jess. You don't have to carry that on your shoulders."

Bex crossed her arms and looked between the Brothers. "Is this because I made a crack about not wanting to do another Shifter Hunt again? That had nothing to do with Hunting and everything to do with me beating myself up for not figuring out that the Shifter was the Shifter soon enough." She opened the back door of the Impala and got inside, but not without saying first, "This is life I'm choosing, boys. Don't question it again."

Doing as Bex had asked, neither of them said another word about it and got into the Impala to head off to their next destination…

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 6

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, Readers. I feel like a should apologize for the quality of this Episode. I've been trying to get it done for so long now but couldn't get past the writer's block to make it better, so I gave up. Hope it wasn't too horrible to endure and thank you for reading Unwanted Destiny.**


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